Faking It
by Wits and the Ditz
Summary: No one saw it coming. Not even Ino. The idea just popped into her head. She saw him there, all by himself, looking as lazy as ever. She hated him, yet she grabbed his arm and pulled him closer towards her. It was ok, she was only faking it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay. We're back with yet another new story. The inspiration for this, funny story, started when I (the Wits) came across one of my magazines that I have stacked on my nightstand. On the front cover was written LOVE QUIZ: ARE YOU FAKING IT? And the idea came to me, like if the inspiration bug bit me in the butt. All my creative juices were flowing and I instantly turned on my laptop and typed non-stop for about an hour. I told the Ditz about it and she was ecstatic. Usually we talk about an idea for a story and then hash it out, but this came all so sudden. The plot came to me first, then we had to add ideas and details along the way so we could both be satisfied with our work. **

**So, enough with the rambling, here's the story!! We had wanted to update the prologue first, then wait to update the first chapter, but then we decided 'oh, what the hell, let's just update it all together and not make you guys suffer with the wait.' :D**

_Faking It_

Prologue

"You know, you really are different from what I expected," he said, reaching out to grab my hand. I hoped he wouldn't notice how sweaty it was.

"Y-Yea, you too," I stammered. Okay, maybe I did let things go _too_ far. "You're not as lazy as I thought you were." He chuckled and squeezed my hand gently. We continued walking down the stone path.

"Ino…," he said after a while.

"Yes?" I said, my heart jumping. I knew what was going to happen next and I hated it.

"I know I'm not the most romantic guy in the world, but I'm very eloquent. So I'm just going to go and say it, and please don't try to interrupt me," he said. Oh no. This isn't good. I think I just entered my panic mode.

"Shikamaru, I-"

"No. Let me say what I have to say. Ino, this may sound crazy and sudden because we've been 'mortal enemies' since childhood. I don't know who coined that, Sakura maybe. But anyway, we've never really gotten along well, but after these past few weeks, everything's changed and….I think I love you. No, I _know _in my heart that I do. I do love you," he said, looking earnestly down at me.

-And pause-

Okay, I know how this looks. Just another romantic scene with two teenagers who are about to express their undying love for each other. Right? Well, not exactly.

It's every girl's dream to have a boy say that they love them. And I know I should be ecstatic, but there's this other feeling that's eating at my heart. Guilt is an ugly word, but I am guilty- of lying, of pretending, of faking. Yes, all these weeks I've been faking it. Just so that some guy I really like would get jealous. But now I see he wasn't worth it…and I've made a big mistake. Because the only person I was really faking was me.

I guess I should explain. You're probably confused right now (just like I am. Damn, I picked a really crappy time to fall in love). So I'll just start from the very beginning, when I still played with Barbie dolls and nothing was better than a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

It was recess time, my favorite time at school because we didn't have to learn anything. We just got to play with our friends and yell without being told to be quiet. Everyday, Sakura, Hinata, and I would go on the swings and compete with one another, seeing who could swing the highest. To put it nicely, we dominated the swings. I know there was a rule that if someone was waiting for a swing, they had to count to a hundred, then you'd have to get off and give them a turn. Psh. As if anyone actually paid attention to that. The playground was a jungle, and only the fittest survived.

Well, I was on one of the swings, laughing and trying to get as close as I could to flying, when I heard this annoyed voice below me. "Hey, it's my turn now. I already counted to a hundred." It was a boy, about my age, with his arms crossed in front of him and a scowl marring his cherubic face.

"Didn't you hear? You have to count to five hundred now," I said gleefully, lying through my teeth. Hinata, who was swinging beside me, looked at me with shock. She never lied.

"You just made that up," the boy said.

"No, I didn't," I said, kicking my legs faster in the air. "Besides, I bet you can't even count to five hundred."

"I can so," he said. "So, get off the swing, it's my turn. I've been waiting."

"No way, pineapple head," I said, and I stuck my tongue out at him. Ha!

The boy just looked at me, and if he was older, he probably would've flipped me off. But we were children then, and he did what every child does when they're mad and don't get things their way.

"I'm going to tell on you!" he said.

Okay, this grabbed my attention. I didn't want to get told on and get in trouble. "You better not, you tattletale!" I warned him.

"Just you watch," he said, and he started to walk towards one of the teachers. I couldn't let that happen. So, when I swung to the highest peak I possibly could, I jumped off and flew for a moment before landing on the boy and tackling him to the ground.

"Ino! Ino!" I heard Sakura say. "Get off of him. A teacher's coming!" There were other kids watching, and cheering. This was all very exciting.

"Hey! Ouch. Quit pulling my hair," the boy said.

"Well, quit pulling mine!" I said. He was tugging on my ponytail, and my violet ribbon fell off when a teacher did finally come and pried us off of each other. We were both sent to the office and waited until the vice principal could speak to us.

The boy (whose name was Shikamaru) and I sat far away from each other. He looked sullen and had his arms crossed. Meanwhile I was silently crying because I had lost my favorite ribbon, and it was all his stupid fault. He looked over at me once and almost looked sorry, but then he stuck his tongue out at me. I mean, I did manage to punch him so his whole left cheek looked rather red and swollen. He deserved it though.

"Crybaby," I heard him mutter.

"You're a slut," I said, wiping my tears away. I didn't know what that actually meant, but I heard it on T.V. before and it was used to offend someone.

"I'm not a slut. And you shouldn't be using words like that," he said. I don't know why, but he started to blush. Just then, we were called into the vice principal's office. She talked to us and blah, blah, blah. The main point is that she made us apologize to each other and I was suspended from using the swings for a _whole _week. I was upset by this. Shikamaru didn't get severely punished at all. He just received a warning. But this…this was just wrong.

It was then that I knew. Shikamaru and I could _never _be friends, or anything else for that matter. We were 'mortal enemies.'

Our mutual dislike for each other continued throughout the years, and still remained during high school. We avoided each other when we could, and if we did happen to run into each other in the hallway, there were some nasty words said (from my part, mostly). Shikamaru probably wanted to outgrow it, because he always seemed annoyed and just tired of it all. Like he was too important to be bothered with me. Ooh, that just riled me up even more.

What made things so much worse was that it turned out that both our fathers happened to work in the same law firm and became friends. No lie, they started their own bromance. It was very disturbing how they did _everything _together. They played golf _together, _they drank sake _together, _they exercised _together, _they even shopped for briefcases together. As if that weren't weird enough, our dads tried to get both our families to do stuff together, like going on camping trips, picnics, playing sports. It was hell. Shikamaru and I always ended up fighting and ruining the whole family bonding experience. But that didn't stop our fathers; they were stubborn. I had to endure his presence if we were together at some family function.

Hinata and Sakura always asked me why I couldn't just get along with him. But they didn't understand. Shikamaru was the bane of my existence. He sabotaged me, and always made cruel jokes about me. He didn't make a point to be nice to me, and neither did I. We were foes, _not _friends.

But how soon that all changed. And there is only one reason for that.

Sasuke.

Yup. The hottest guy at school, the most coolest, the most unattainable. And I wanted him. Only, there was one slight problem.

He didn't seem interested in me, or anyone else (although probably half the girls at school had a crush on him). He just didn't notice all the attention he received from us. He was more focused on schoolwork and sports, not girls. Which is a pity, really. But I was willing to change all that. And I had the perfect plan. Only, it's backfired on me.

Chapter One

"Yes! Yes!! Oh my god, I knew this would pay off," I said, holding the binoculars up to my eyes. I pressed them even closer towards the bridge of my nose, as if that would increase the magnification.

"Hey Ino, don't forget whose idea it was," Sakura said, trying to take the binoculars away from my hands, but I wouldn't let her.

"Uh…guys, there are bugs in here," Hinata said, slapping away an insect that had been crawling on her knee.

"Jeez, you guys complain a lot," I said. Then I sighed dreamily, watching as Sasuke _finally _pulled off his sweaty t-shirt and threw it on the sidelines. Yes, soccer practice is my favorite time of the day. "Sasuke's abs are so perfect and, just look at him, he is so dedicated!"

"Let me see," Sakura said impatiently. I took one final look and then handed the binoculars to her. I didn't mind hiding in a bug-infested bush just to watch Sasuke. It's all worth it. You see, we are meant to be together. That is a fact.

"Don't you guys feel bad about spying on him?" Hinata said. She was the one with a conscious, not I. So, no, I didn't feel bad at all.

"Hinata, if you don't want to be here, it's okay. You can go home, and we'll hang out later. But, you have to agree with me that Sasuke is a _god_," I said, lying down on the grass and looking up at the sky. The clouds seemed to conjure themselves into the shape of Sasuke's physiognomy.

"I'll stay, but not because of Sasuke," Hinata said defiantly. "He's so out of your league, you still refuse to see it. But Naruto, on the other hand…" Then she stopped and when I turned to look at her, she was blushing madly and staring at Naruto. He was dribbling the ball and kicked it to one of his teammates. I snickered.

"Looks like we've got you corrupted as well, Hina. What? Don't you feel bad for spying on Naruto? Or is it different because _you _like him?" I said, teasing her.

"At least I have a chance with him," she said quietly, twiddling her fingers absentmindedly.

"But you don't even talk to him," Sakura said, readjusting the binoculars. "I mean, you get all red in the face and start stuttering in front of him."

"It's just my nerves. I wish I wasn't like that, but I can't help it," Hinata said.

"Don't worry. You'll get rid of your nervousness once you feel comfortable around him. Hey, why don't you ask him out? I'm sure he'll say yes. Naruto wouldn't be mean enough to say no to you," I said, sitting up and removing any leaves embedded in my hair. Then I stopped and let out a scream.

"What is it Ino?" Sakura asked, alarmed.

"Oh my god! This is perfect!!" I said, clapping my hands. "Don't you see? Naruto and Sasuke are best friends, although I don't know how, but they are. If Hinata and Naruto end up together, then she can introduce me- I mean us- to Sasuke," I said to Sakura. "Then may the best woman win, right?"

"All's fair in love and war," Sakura said in agreement, smiling. I smiled too, glad that although we may be competitive about Sasuke, we don't let it ruin our friendship. The fact that we both like him is proof that we have so much in common.

"You two are so confusing sometimes. How do you know that you won't be secretly jealous if Sasuke picks one of you over the other? That is, _if _he even picks one of you. He might be interested in someone else. Or worse…he's probably already taken," Hinata said.

I ignored her. She may be the voice of reason in our trio, but sometimes reason is just stupid. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense, and you know that you have to follow your heart, not your mind. In my opinion, the heart is always right.

"Well, practice is almost over," Sakura said, peering through the bush. "We should go to my house afterward. My mom made her famous five-cheese lasagna."

"Ooh, yummy. Your mom's lasagna is worth the extra calories," I said. Hinata rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Ino, you're not fat. So quit worrying about your figure. You're waaay too young to be worrying about that anyway," she said. Then it was my turn to roll my eyes.

That's when I heard it. Footsteps coming from the big, wide tree behind us. I didn't think much of it. I mean, we were well hidden. No one could've seen us, but…

"Hey, what are you three doing down there? Aren't you too old to be playing hiding games?" It was Chouji, a classmate from our grade. I've always been nice towards him because our fathers are friends, but unfortunately he's friends with pineapple head. Too bad, because he seems like a nice guy. Speaking of, if Chouji's here, that means Shikamaru can't be far behind.

"Cho, I don't think they're playing any games. They're spying on the soccer team, or to be more accurate, on that Uchiha kid," Shikamaru said, appearing behind him. Right on cue.

"He's not a kid! And his name is Sasuke," I said, standing up from my position on the ground.

"Jeez. I only say one simple comment and that's already enough for you to get fired up about something," he said, his arms crossed behind his head. He tried to stifle a yawn. Gah! What is wrong with him? He's always yawning and on the verge of sleeping.

"What are you- some nocturnal freak??" I asked.

"You're slipping up, Ino. I think you used that comeback last week," Shikamaru said, yawning again.

"Are you kidding me? You can't even remember Sasuke's beautiful name, but you can remember something mean that I said to you about a week ago?" I said. Hinata and Sakura eyed me warily, waiting for me to finish so we could all just leave.

"Yeah, that's basically it. And now I can add pervert to your list of accomplishments," he said. Ooh, I can't leave now and let him have the last word. I _won't _let him have that satisfaction.

"Okay, Ino, let's go," Sakura said, tugging on my arm.

"No, wait," I said, glaring fiercely at Shikamaru. "You can call me any nasty name you want, but do _not _ever call me a pervert again!" Then I slapped him. It was a good, hard smack across the cheek that left my hand impression on his skin for a few seconds afterward.

"Ino!" Chouji said, shocked. Pch. As if seeing me be violent towards Shikamaru was anything new.

"Okay, _now _we can leave," I said to Sakura and Hinata. They gawked at me, dumbstruck.

Shikamaru, for his part, was rubbing his already inflamed cheek. Oh, and glaring daggers at me (but I choose to ignore that little fact). He wasn't going to hit me, god no, that was for sure. He was too "gentlemanly" to do an atrocious thing like that. But he kept glaring at me long enough for me to grow some sort of conscious. Damn him!

"I'll be glad to tell Uchiha that he has a faithful admirer who watches him from behind a bush. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that, that is, if he isn't completely freaked out by it," Shikamaru said with a smirk. Then Chouji and him left.

"I-I'm sure he didn't mean anything by that," Hinata said. "He was just bluffing."

"Yeah. Totally," Sakura said, nodding her head. "I mean, Shikamaru and Sasuke don't even get along that well."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said. "So…who feels like stuffing their face with lasagna?"

**********

"Hey mom, where's dad? Shouldn't he be home by now?" I asked, tapping my pencil on the kitchen counter.

"And shouldn't you be doing your math homework instead of daydreaming?" she said, arranging some beautiful flowers in a vase. My mom is obsessed with flowers. She owns a small floral store and is dedicated to her gardening. Jeez, my parents are weird. "I'm sure you can pause any Sasuke fantasies you have on your mind long enough to finish your homework. Remember, if you get another C on a test, you're grounded."

I groaned and went back to my math textbook. Algebra is such a bore. I mean, when am I ever going to use it in real life? Never. "But model/actresses don't need to know math," I said to my mom.

"What happened to becoming a veterinarian? You love animals," she said.

"I do," I said, stooping down to pat my dog on the head. "But that was before I got discovered by that photographer in the mall. He said that I had potential."

"Honey, I was there. Remember? The man was a _shoe_ photographer."

"So? At least he has connections. Prepare to see my pretty feet in magazines wearing next season's metallic pumps," I said. My mother only snorted and continued with her flower arrangement. "Oh, you never did answer my question. Where's dad at?"

"He went out with Shikaku, right before you came home," she said, nonchalant.

"What?! You let your husband go out on a man date?" I exclaimed.

"Ino, what are you talking about? They only went out to play a few rounds of golf at the club," she said.

"You do realize that your husband, and _my _father, is cheating on you…with another man?" I asked. "That's just not normal."

"Don't be ridiculous," my mom said.

"Uh-uh. I'm being rational. Dad's bromance has gotten so out of hand, it's down right embarrassing," I said. "What is it with men and their need to bond?"

"I think I preferred it better when you were daydreaming. At least you weren't talking nonsense," she said. I rolled my eyes at her.

At around six in the evening, my dad came home in high spirits, saying how much fun he had at the golf club with his 'buddy.' Then he mentioned how there was going to be a golf tournament in a few days. I wasn't paying much attention, until he addressed me.

"So Ino, what do you say? Aren't you excited?" he asked, smiling at me.

"Um…about what?" I said, clueless.

"Of volunteering at the golf tournament this weekend. It's going to be a huge family event, so you can volunteer at the face painting booth or something," he said. "Shikamaru will be there, too, so he can help you. Won't that be great?"

"Eww! No, that'll be terrible. Dad, you know how I feel about Shikamaru. That boy is trouble. He'll probably 'accidentally' spill some paint on my clothes or something," I said.

"Shikamaru's no longer a boy anymore, sweetie. I'm sure he's outgrown all that," mom said. "I saw him the other day, and you know what? He isn't that bad-looking," she said, winking at me. I gagged.

"Well, Ino, I already signed you up to help. You know how important volunteer work looks on your college application," dad said, choosing a newspaper from the coffee table.

"So does cheerleading," I retorted. "It shows that I'm outgoing and school-spirited."

"You're not getting yourself out of this one, so don't even try to convince me otherwise," he said, reading the newspaper in his favorite sofa by the fireplace. Mad at not getting my way, I took my dog Tracy out for a walk to cool off.

The sun was low in the sky and the air smelled like freshly-cut grass. I breathed it in and smiled to myself. With my anger subdued, I began to enjoy the quiet peace that only nature could provide.

Ten minutes later, Tracy, my black and white border collie, got all excited and picked up her pace. I had to run just to keep up. "What the hell, Trace, where are you taking me?" I asked, holding tightly to her leash and following her lead. I looked around and noticed the neighborhood looked familiar. I realized where Tracy was taking me- Shikamaru's house. For some unknown, unexplainable reason my dog adores that pineapple headed freak.

She stopped in front of their lawn and barked several times, wagging her tail. To me, it looked like no one was at home. I tugged on her leash, but she remained adamant. Tracy paced back and forth on the Nara's grass and started sniffing the ground. Uh-oh. I knew what this meant.

"Trace, no! C'mon, you are not- wait a minute, stay where you are. Good doggy," I said, smiling. Shikamaru really annoyed me by calling me a pervert today. I just can't forget stuff like that. "You know how that saying goes…if you gotta go, then go. I can't do anything to stop you." Tracy lifted her leg and peed on the lawn. I couldn't have been prouder.

"Ino, is your dog urinating on my lawn?" I heard someone say behind me. I turned around and saw Shikamaru. The smile vanished off my face.

"Shikamaru! Wh-What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.

"What do you think? I _live _here," he said. "Oh great, now it's shitting on my lawn as well. That's just freakin' fantastic. Tell me, did you plan this?"

I scoffed. "What? You think I actually spent time to plan something like this?"

"Knowing you, I don't think you're smart enough to plan anything. But I don't really know what goes on in that bubblegum brain of yours," Shikamaru said. "Wait, I do, and his name is Sasuke, isn't it?"

"You're just jealous because he's a lot cooler than you," I said.

"Me, jealous of him? Yeah right," he said sarcastically. "The only thing Sasuke's got going for himself is good looks, but besides that, have you even talked to the guy? He's apathetic and antisocial towards everything."

"Sasuke may be taciturn sometimes-"

"_Most _of the time," Shikamaru added, cutting me off.

"But," I said, glaring at him," he's a very admirable guy. He's smart, competitive, responsible, and ambitious. Which is _waaay _more than I can say for you, Mr. Shirker."

"I did not come to my house in order to get offended by some Britney Spears-wannabe cheerleader," he said. I gasped, immediately pulling the hem of my shirt down so he couldn't see any of my midriff.

Shikamaru headed towards his house, pausing only once to scratch Tracy behind the ear. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Inside to get a bag," he replied, already at the front door.

"Oh. Good, you should probably clean the mess on your lawn. I like to think of it as an early birthday present for you. Enjoy it," I said with a smug smile.

"Hold up Ino. _I'm _not cleaning that mess. _You _are. It's _your _dog, _your _responsibility," he said, entering his house. I quickly tugged on Tracy's leash but that dumb dog wouldn't move.

"C'mon! We need to leave before-"

"Before what?" Shikamaru asked, already back with a plastic grocery bag in his hand. "Nice try Ino. Now, here you go." He offered me the bag, which I hesitated to take.

I'm not going to describe what I did next. Eww, no. Let's just say that once I came home, I washed my hands at least a hundred times and used up most of the soap.

**********

The next day I woke up and grumbled out of bed. I got dressed, brushed my hair and joined my parents downstairs in the dining room for breakfast. "Good morning," I muttered, giving them both a peck on the cheek before sitting down.

"Ino, don't slouch in your seat," my mom said, pouring me a glass of milk.

I sat up straight. "Happy?" I asked, spreading some cream cheese on my bagel.

"Is there a reason why you're in such a bad mood today?" dad asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well, if you must know," I said, "I got a call from that photographer. He wants me to do a photo shoot."

"That's good, sweetie. Isn't it?" dad said.

"No. I had to tell him I couldn't do it because of your stupid golf tournament this weekend. Do I really have to be there?" I said.

"Yes," he said. I groaned.

"You do realize you're ruining my life? I could be famous or something, but no, instead I have to babysit some snot-nosed kids," I said. I finished my bagel and stood up. "All my beauty will go to waste. Soon, I'll become one of those senile cat ladies, living in a shabby apartment."

"Ino, stop being so dramatic," mom said.

I stomped loudly towards my bathroom upstairs and brushed my teeth with quick, hard strokes. It's not fair! My one chance of fame is slipping away…

Five minutes later I drove to school and met Sakura and Hinata at our usual spot. I filled them in on the morning's event. "My parents are being completely unreasonable," I said.

"I still can't believe you even got called for a photo shoot. I mean, you have no modeling experience," Sakura said.

"But that doesn't really matter. As long as you're interesting enough, anyone can be a model," I said. "Even you, with your five-head."

"Ha ha," Sakura laughed dryly.

"So what are you going to do?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, I am definitely going to the photo shoot. I already have it all figured out. I'll go volunteer at the tournament for a while, just to make my parents happy. Bu then, when they're busy and won't notice, I'll sneak off and go to the shoot," I said.

"I'm impressed," Sakura said. "But who's going to cover for you?" I smiled sweetly and batted my eyelashes at her. "Oh no. Don't even-"

"Why not?" I asked. "What about you Hinata? Don't you want to help me?"

"Last time I helped you, I ended up having to wear a mustache and sombrero," she said.

"I needed my boss to believe I was in a mariachi group so I could have an excuse to take the night off to go on a date. And it would've worked too if your mustache hadn't come off," I said. "I didn't even go on the date, and I got fired afterwards."

"So you see the pattern here? Your plans almost always never work," Hinata said. I was going to respond, but just then the bell rang.

"Well, history awaits. I'll see you two at lunch," I said, waving at them. I entered my history classroom and sat down in my assigned seat, which was right behind Sasuke. I stared dreamily at the back of his head and sighed. Perhaps a bit too loudly because he turned around and looked at me, his eyebrows raised in question. I blushed madly, going through my mental check-list. Smooth hair? Check. Glossy lips? Check. Blemish-free face? Uh…

"Hey Sasuke," I said, dazzling him with my smile.

"Um, hey," he said.

Um, hey? _Um, hey? _Oh my god, this is amazing! I got Sasuke to say more than one syllable. This is like a miracle!

"How's the soccer team going along? I heard the practices were pretty intense," I said, remembering how sweaty-licious he looked the other day.

"Not really. I'm used to all the running by now," he said, then as an afterthought, "I heard something strange about you yesterday."

"Oh, you did?" I said, nonchalant. "It was probably nothing. Just, you know, gossip."

"Well, I heard that you've been spying on some guy and that it's gotten completely obsessive," Sasuke said, looking at me for an explanation. "Is there any truth in that?"

"No, of course not. There are some freaky people in this school who have nothing better to do with their lives than make stuff up like that," I said. "I would _never _spy on anyone. Scout's honor." I added a smile for effect.

Sasuke smiled back at me, his white teeth flashing. I knew how rare those smiles could be.

"So, uh…," I said. C'mon, Ino, you can do this! Man up and just ask him already. "Are you going to Kiba's party this weekend?"

"Probably not. Unless Naruto drags me to go," he said, looking bored. Quick, I have to reel him back in.

"You should definitely go," I said, hearing the teacher start on her lecture. "It'll be lots of fun and there'll be great music."

"I don't dance," Sasuke said.

"That's okay, I…" No, I have to be cool about this. Not too clingy, but not too aloof. "I don't dance either," I lied. "I just hang out with my friends and-"

"Your friends are going to be there?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, not sure if this was good or bad. "I wouldn't go to a party alone. Would you?"

"No," Sasuke said.

Is he going to ask me?

"So I guess I'll see you there," he said, looking interested about something.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

"Yeah, I'll see you there," I said coolly. Inside I was beyond ecstatic. Sasuke turned to face the front of the classroom again, while I tried my best to hide my smile.

**********

**GOLF TOURNAMENT DAY**

**11:47 A.M.**

**(NOTE: I AM **_**NOT**_** HAPPY)**

"Don't forget to put sunscreen on, sweetie. You know how easily you burn," mom said, tossing me a sunscreen bottle.

"Well, this is a great turn-out," dad said, adjusting his golf bag on his shoulder. He kept waving to different men in his club and stopped to make some 'small-talk.'

"Way to fraternize with the enemy, dad," I muttered under my breath. My mom, unfortunately, heard me and shot me a glare. "What? He is competing against them, right?"

"That's not the point, Ino. This tournament is set up to raise money for charity foundations," mom explained.

"Oh. I guess that would explain why a hot dog here costs two dollars," I said. I continued applying sunscreen on my arms and legs and stopped when I heard an all-too-familiar voice.

"Inoichi, my man, are you ready to admit defeat," Shikaku said, clapping my father on the back. My dad gave a hearty laugh. Shikaku greeted my mother then turned his attention to me. "Ino! Well, come here, squirt!" Then he proceeded to hug me and ruffle my hair. Oh my god, I was ambushed by armpit sweat.. I was silently dying. Then he released me.

I was barely recovering when Shikamaru's mother greeted me with a hug of her own. Her perfume smelled wonderful in my lungs, but her embrace was too tight. "Ino, you should come over more with your parents to our house," she said, fixing my hair. "We got a pool installed in the backyard and I know how much you love to swim."

"We should have a get-together soon," my mom suggested.

"Yes. Maybe a luau barbeque?" Mrs. Nara said.

"That'd be perfect. I found a recipe for coconut cake and I've been looking for an excuse to try it out," mom said.

That's when I tuned them out. I started to walk around the grounds of the club, trying to look for something to ease my boredom. My god, there were so many little kids running around and yelling.

"Hey Ino, you got stuck into coming here too?" I heard Kiba say from behind me.

"More like forced," I said, grateful for his presence. You can count on Kiba to lighten any mood. "I'm in charge of the jello-throwing booth. It has disaster written all over it."

Kiba laughed. "Wow, I feel for you. I'll make sure to get in a decent throw, at least."

"Make yourself useful and help me look for the booth. I'm suppose to be setting it up soon," I said.

"What does that even mean anyway? Soon. That could mean five minutes or five days or even five weeks," Kiba said.

"It means…," I said, finally spotting my booth. Amazingly, everything was already set up and several kids were waiting in line to get a chance to throw cubes of jello at a bull's-eye for a special prize. "It means that my awesomeness has prevailed yet again. Someone else set up the booth for me. I should thank them. They saved me a loadful of time."

I spoke too soon. I saw Shikamaru sitting at a folding chair by the booth, his lids drooping sleepily over his eyes. He pointed at me to the kids.

"There she is! The blonde, ditzy girl!" a young boy yelled.

"She's late!" another boy yelled.

Umm…what? I was utterly confused. Then a little girl with the face of a sweet angel said, "Get her!" in a demonic, possessed voice and started to run towards me. That little bitch!

All those kids were ready to attack me. So I grabbed Kiba's arm and yanked him away with me and ran. Hey, a girl needs protection, right? "Whoa Ino, slow down. They're just kids," he said.

"Ha! That's what you think. Damn kids, they're vicious. Now, hurry up," I said, zig-zagging across the different booths and throng of people.

"Ino, I think we lost them. Hey, watch out for-"

Too late. I didn't see it coming. I landed head in to the dessert table.

**********

"Well, it's a good thing Shikamaru had an extra shirt on hand," Kiba said in good humor. "Right?"

"Yeah, right," I said, trying to make the shirt as fashionable as I could. But it was no use. The shirt was an icky shade of green and several sizes too big. I was drowning in it. And it smelled like bean burritos. "Uh, Shikamaru, not that I enjoy being mean to you, but seriously, what's up with this shirt? I don't think it even fits you," I said.

"That's because it's not my shirt. It's Chouji's. He left it lying around in my car after we went to the gym last week," Shikamaru said. He was lying down on the grass, watching the clouds. How boring.

"This is Chouji's shirt?" I said, tugging at the neckline and smelling it in disgust. Kiba was laughing in the background. I glared at him until he stopped.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I think I hear my sister calling me," Kiba said, lying horribly. "I'll see the two of you at my party tomorrow. Bye." Then he left, leaving me alone with Shikamaru (oh, and the monstrous kids).

I crossed my arms and gazed down at him, tapping my foot impatiently. "C'mon, we need to work the booth," I said.

"We? Don't you mean you?" Shikamaru said, propping himself up on one elbow.

"No, I mean us. I can't handle all those rugrats all by myself. Didn't you see the way they attacked me? They practically pushed me towards all those cakes and pies," I said. "Because of them I have frosting on my hair."

"Ino, they're just little kids. They don't know any better," Shikamaru said.

"Hey, we want to throw some jello!" one of the kids yelled.

"Yeah, it's jello-throwing time!" another kids said. I quickly grabbed the trays full of jello from the ice cooler.

"Okay, get in a straight line. Who's first?" I said. A small boy came up and handed me a dollar. And so it begun.

**20 minutes later…**

"Who threw that?!" I exclaimed, turning around to face the culprits. But they all smiled innocently. "That was the fifth time, so I know it was not an accident," I said, wiping jello away from my arm.

"My turn! My turn!" a girl said, grabbing a handful of jello-cubes and aiming for the bulls-eye. She completely missed. I snickered and walked towards my chair. That's when I felt something hit my butt.

"See, that's how you throw," I heard Shikamaru say to the little girl. He was kneeling down at her level and wiping his hands from the jello.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing?" I said, outraged.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm showing Kimi how to improve her aim," he said.

"Yeah, and you were the target," Kimi said.

"I'm not a target," I said. "And I would appreciate it if one of you could at least hit the bulls-eye. _Not _me."

Ugh. I hate this day. I freakin' hate this day, and the people in it. I can't wait until my photoshoot. That's the only thing that can make me happy. I'll be decked out in wonderful clothes and my hair will- wait, what time is it?

I checked my phone and let out a yelp. I had completely forgotten about the time. And Sakura and Hinata aren't even here to cover for me.

"What? Forgot to charge your phone or something? Someone who talks as much as you do should know tha-" Shikamaru said before I cut him off.

"Not now. I need to think," I said, concentrating.

"Okay, just don't hurt yourself," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

"If I had a piece of rope I'd tie you to a tree and muffle your mouth with a stinky sock just so I wouldn't have to hear your annoying voice," I said. That shut him up…for a while.

"I didn't know you wore stinky socks, Ino. Not only are you named as a pig, but you're trying to smell like one too," he said. "Oww!"

"Sorry, my hand slipped," I said. On your face, I thought secretly. "Anyway, seeing as how much you love these little rascals, I don't think you'll mind being left alone with them for a while."

"What are you talking about? Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked.

"To my photoshoot, duh. I'm surprised you don't know about it, since you seem to know _everything _about my personal life," I said.

"I'm not the one who spies on people," he said.

"Thanks, by the way, for telling Sasuke that horrible lie about me. Luckily I set him straight about it and he said he'd see me at Kiba's party," I said. "So your plan failed." I turned to leave, but Shikamaru grabbed my wrist. "Hey, let m-"

"Do your parents know about the photoshoot?" he asked.

"Well, I told them about it and they said I couldn't go," I said, trying to release my wrist from his grasp. I didn't want to be late for the bus.

"They probably said no for a reason."

"No, they're just life-ruining parents. The photographer has his own studio set in his apartment and wardrobe and make-up. I don't even have to pay for anything. How legit is that?" I said.

"Just because he isn't asking for money doesn't mean he's safe," Shikamaru said.

"Yes he is. Now, let me go," I said, yanking my wrist away. "I don't want to show up late and make a bad impression."

"Ino, wait-"

"Someone's got to stay at the booth, Shikamaru," I called back, running towards the exit.

***********

**1:13 P.M.**

**(I AM 8 MINUTES LATE TO MY PHOTOSHOOT!!)**

I knocked on the door, perhaps a bit too eagerly. My whole body was tingling in excitement. This is it. This is the moment to propel myself forward into the spotlight. And it all starts here- at some shabby apartment studio. But whatever.

The door opened and I was greeted by Tal, the photographer I met at the mall a few weeks ago. He was sporting a very hideous goatee, which I was kind enough not to comment on.

"Ino, I'm so glad you could make it. You had me worried," Tal said, ushering me inside.

"I said I would come, didn't I?" I said, readjusting my shirt. During the bus ride here I had tied the hem at my waist and rolled the sleeves up to my shoulder. Now at least it looked half-decent. Except for that smell…"So, where's the studio at? I'm kinda on a time budget so I'd really like to hurry it up if you don't mind."

"Of course, that's perfectly understandable. And with beautiful looks like that, the shoot will be a breeze," Tal said. "But first, sit down and I'll get you something to drink. You look parched."

"Oh, thanks. It is kinda hot outside," I said, sitting down on the sofa. I couldn't see the studio anywhere and that should have set off the warning bells in my head.

Tal walked to the kitchen and fixed me a drink while I looked around the apartment. It was filled with pictures on the wall, most of them abstract, but there were some of scantily clad young women in compromising positions, as if they were flirting with the camera. There was a glazed shine in their eyes that sent chills down my spine.

"Here you go, Ino. Freshly squeezed orange juice, no pulp," Tal said. I thanked him and took a sip. It tasted weird, like orange juice with a mild burning aftertaste in my throat.

"Did you spike this?" I asked, incredulous.

"Only a little. The alcohol is only to relax you a bit for the photoshoot. Trust me, it'll make all the difference," he said. But I didn't trust him, not completely. This whole situation was a bit weird.

I stood up. "I'm sorry, but I don't drink alcohol," I said.

"C'mon Ino, loosen up," Tal said, tugging at the knot on my shirt.

"No!" I said, backing away from him. "I want to go home," I said childishly.

"But I thought you wanted to hurry it up," he said. "We could make it quick and-"

"Gross," I said. "I came here for a photo shoot, not…not this." I eyed the door.

Tal laughed. "You really thought this was all real? Wow, you are stupider than I thought." I saw a dangerous look on his face and quickly ran to my escape but Tal lunged towards me and gripped me hard. I struggled against him.

"You shitface! Let me go!" I yelled, kicking him. He grimaced.

"Why are you making this so difficult? Just have a nice drink and relax," Tal said, groping me. "Relax Ino, I won't hurt you. I'm a good guy, maybe a bit lonely, but you can fix all that."

The horror of it seized me in a sudden explosion. I started to cry, to fight, to _panic. _I was so afraid in that moment. For the first time in a long time I started to pray.

"P-Please," I whispered, feeling so useless. But I wasn't useless. I still had my will, and with that I dug my $25 manicured nails into Tal's shoulder and used that as a distraction. I made it to the door and hurried to unlock it.

I felt Tal's arms wrap around me and he pushed me to the floor. I withered and twisted from his grasp, kicking in every direction. I was not going to lose. I had prayed for a miracle, and by God, it was going to happen.

It came in the form of a pineapple.

*****end of chapter*****

**A/N: Please review!! Flames NOT welcomed, only constructive criticism. **

**Oh, and keep a lookout for our Halloween Special one-shot story. Most likely, it's going to be posted on Halloween (if we have it finished by then). We're so excited about it, it's going to be sooo scary. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed!!**

_**Previously on the last chapter:**_

"_Why are you making this so difficult? Just have a nice drink and relax," Tal said, groping me. "Relax Ino, I won't hurt you. I'm a good guy, maybe a bit lonely, but you can fix all that."_

_The horror of it seized me in a sudden explosion. I started to cry, to fight, to panic. I was so afraid in that moment. For the first time in a long time I started to pray._

"_P-Please," I whispered, feeling so useless. But I wasn't useless. I still had my will, and with that I dug my $25 manicured nails into Tal's shoulder and used that as a distraction. I made it to the door and hurried to unlock it._

_I felt Tal's arms wrap around me and he pushed me to the floor. I withered and twisted from his grasp, kicking in every direction. I was not going to lose. I had prayed for a miracle, and by God, it was going to happen. _

_It came in the form of a pineapple. _

_-_

_-_

_-_

_Faking It_

Chapter Two

Shikamaru burst in through the half-opened door and pulled Tal off me. I was so disoriented, but I managed to stand up. I watched as Shikamaru plunged his fist deep into Tal's gut, then punched his jaw. I have to admit that I was impressed. Who would've thought that Shikamaru could be such a tough guy? Tal, for his part, was weak. He groaned in defeat and crumbled to the ground in one pathetic mess. Tch.

"You okay?" Shikamaru asked, looking me over for any injuries. Besides the disheveled state of me clothes and hair, I was okay. And highly embarrassed.

"Yeah. I had everything under control until you showed up," I said.

"Oh, really? And I suppose the screams I heard from outside were for dramatic effect?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you like stalking me now? How'd you even know I was here anyway?" I asked.

"I followed you after you left. When you mentioned the photo shoot being in an apartment I knew something was up. Any idiot could've figured that out," Shikamaru said, looking at me disdainfully. Wow. I must've been really disoriented because it took me a while to figure that one out. And when I did, I was not happy.

"Hey, you just called me an idiot," I said, crossing my arms. "Tha-"

"Yeah, whatever. Let's leave before Sleeping Beauty over there wakes up and decides to be an ass again," Shikamaru said.

"Good idea, but wait a sec," I said, walking towards Tal's limp body on the ground. I gave him a good, hard kick on his side. "And that's what you get when you mess with Ino Yamanaka."

"Okay, you've had your moment, now let's-"

"Oh, wait," I said, taking my tube of lipstick out from my pocket.

"Ino, are you serious? Now is _not _the time to be applying make-up on," Shikamaru said. I ignored him and bent down towards Tal and quickly drew on his face with my lipstick.

"There," I said, capping the lid back one. "All done now." Shikamaru came to stand beside me and inspected my work. The words _'I'm a loser' _were written on Tal's forehead and I had drawn a penis on his cheek. **(We got that idea from 10 Things I Hate About You, the movie with Heath Ledger).**

"Very mature Ino," Shikamaru said in disapproval. "Let's just go." He started to head for the door.

"You're a joy kill, you know that," I said, following behind him. "Why does everything I do have to be so immature? And answer me this- have you ever done anything fun or wild in your life before? You're always-."

"Ugh. You're like the annoying sister I'm glad I don't have," he said.

"Jeez Shikamaru. What's up with you? You're even grouchier than usual," I said. He stopped short (almost causing me to bump into him) and turned around to look at me.

"Maybe the reason I always seem so grouchy and uptight to you is because _you _never take things seriously. You laugh things off, like today for example. You could've gotten hurt…or worse, but everything's a big joke to you, isn't it? You don't give a damn if the people who care about you are worried for your safety," Shikamaru said. I didn't blink from his deep, penetrating gaze, even when a tear ran down the curve of my nose.

"You really do have a way to make a girl feel suck-ish about herself," I said softly. Then I walked down the apartment stairs toward the parking lot. I spotted Shikamaru's car and waited for him there. As upset as I was with him, the next bus wasn't scheduled until another thirty minutes and I had no other ride. I took the time to reflect how horrible this day had turned out. I had been attacked by little kids, covered with cake frosting, covered with jello (which reminds me, I'm going to take a looong shower when I get home), attacked by a weirdo, _and_ had my worst enemy practically call me a self-centered bitch. So I had every reason to cry, out in the open, where anyone could see me. And I didn't care.

I was still crying when I heard Shikamaru's lethargic footsteps coming towards me. I didn't dare look up. I could only imagine how blotchy my face looked. It'd be the perfect target for his jokes.

He stopped before me and reached into his pockets. Probably for the keys. But he took out a rumpled tissue and offered it to me. "Here, take it," Shikamaru said. I didn't reach for it. He sighed. "I promise you, it's clean. Here, you can wipe your face with it." I hesitatingly took it from him, keeping my face down. He opened the door for me and started to walk to his seat on the other side.

I quickly got in and sat down, using the tissue to wipe my tears away. By the time he started the car, my face was streak-free from any tears. I looked out the window as he turned on the radio.

The car ride was silent, save for the music playing. Instead of taking me back to the golf tournament, Shikamaru drove me home. He parked on the driveway, waiting for me to get out. I felt like I had to say something. As much as he liked the quiet, it was unbearable for me.

"Shikamaru," I said, my voice sounding so small. He cocked his head to look at me. I cleared my throat and spoke again. "I just want to say…thank you. For saving me from that creep. And giving me a ride home. That was really nice of you," I said.

"I didn't do it to be nice," he said.

"I know. You were trying to be… a gentleman, I guess," I said with a short laugh. "When did you become so noble?"

"The question isn't when, but why. And for that I have my own reasons," he said.

"Are you trying to impress someone?" I asked, wondering who he'd be interested in. It was a funny thought.

"Are you trying to mock me?" he said with a smirk. "Just drop the subject Ino. You won't get anything out of me."

I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door. "Are you going back to the tournament?" I asked.

"Yeah. Someone's got to man the booth, although it's probably a mess by now," Shikamaru said, obviously thinking about those crazy kids.

"Um…could you like not mention anything to my parents about what happened? It'd be best if they didn't know anything," I said. "If they ask, just tell them I felt sick or something and had to go home."

"You want me to lie to them?" he said.

"Not lie, just don't tell them the truth. It's for their own good, really. You'd be saving them from all the unnecessary worry," I said, looking at the rear view mirror to apply a fresh layer of lip gloss. I rubbed my lips together and smiled at my reflection.

"I'll see what I can do," Shikamaru said tiredly.

"Okay, bye," I said, hopping out of the car and walking towards my front porch. I unlocked the door using the spare key from under the mat and made my way to the bathroom for a long, steamy shower.

**********

**THE NEXT DAY AT KIBA'S PARTY**

**8: 43 P.M.**

Perfectly glammed up hair? Check.

Sexy, alluring eyes (all thanks to about six or seven coats of mascara?) Oh, definitely check.

Hot pink H-O-T dress? Check.

Matching platform shoes? Check.

Now, the only thing missing- where the _hell _is Sasuke at?

"Okay, it's a bust. He's not even here. He didn't show up. This whole night is ruined," I said, picking up a red plastic sup full of soda.

"Ino!" Hinata gasped, shocked. "You just drank soda, and it wasn't even diet." She tried to take the cup from me.

"Oh, who cares? I might as well drink my sorrows away," I said. "Symbolically speaking of course." I took another sip of what tasted like Pepsi. Or Coke. What's the difference. "Sakura, what's a girl to do?"

"Well, for one thing, you can quit acting like a total drama queen," she said, scanning the room for Sasuke. She sighed. "He really isn't here."

"Obviously. That's what I said like two minutes ago."

"We can still have a good time. C'mon, let's go dance. I just love this song," Hinata said, swaying her hips do the music. Sakura joined her.

"I'll just stay here for a while," I said as they swayed their way to the living room, which had been converted as the dance area. I downed the rest of the soda and grabbed another cup from the kitchen counter. After finishing that one, I really had to go to the bathroom.

As I made my way to the bathroom I spotted Sasuke at the other end of the room. He was with Naruto, watching people dancing.

"Hey Sasuke!" I shouted over the loud music. I waved to him, hoping he'd seen me. He greeted me with a nonchalant nod of his head. "You're here! Did you just arrive?" I asked.

"Actually I was downstairs in the basement playing pool with some of the guys," Sasuke said, speaking close to my ear so I could hear him. His warm breath felt wonderful on my skin.

"You play pool? Is there anything you can't do?" I said, smiling up at him.

"You'd laugh if I told you," he said.

"Oh, c'mon. Try me," I said. Sasuke shook his head, smirked, and looked at me.

"You really outdid yourself tonight Ino," he said. "You look…you look…."

"I think the words you're looking for are 'Wow, I'm speechless!'" I said, ignoring my bladder emergency. I noticed Naruto rolled his eyes at me. That boy just doesn't like me.

"Uh…I beg your pardon? What'd you just say?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. Naruto just laughed. Crap. Did I say that out loud?

"Nothing," I said, but I knew he heard me. "Just that…umm…that boy over there doesn't like me," I pointed to a random guy standing several feet away.

"You mean Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked.

"Huh?" I said, realizing I had just pointed to pineapple head. What the?

"But aren't you two 'mortal enemies' or something like that? I thought you already knew he doesn't like you. Aren't you waaaay past all that?" Naruto said.

Remember, he's Sasuke's friend. Don't hit him. Sasuke- good. Punching- bad. Don't hit him. Ugh, but he's so annoying!

"Why are we talking about Shikamaru? Weren't we just admiring my wonderful dress?" I said, trying to focus the conversation back on me. Naruto gagged. Remember- don't hit the best friend.

"Ino! There you are!" Sakura said, clasping her hand around my wrist. "You have to dance with Hinata and me. It's not the same with just the two of us." Then she noticed Sasuke. "On second thought, I'll take him instead." She let go of me and grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him to the dance area. He went without protest. I just stood there, totally pissed off.

"That bitch. She took him away from me. Did you see that?" I said to no one in particular.

"In my opinion, Sasuke doesn't look too miserable. He seems to be enjoying himself," Naruto said.

"How? He's just standing there, watching her dance in front of him. It's completely disgusting," I said. "She's just jealous that I was with Sasuke first."

"Yo Naruto, Ino. How you like my party? You two having fun?" Kiba said, wrapping his arms around both our shoulders.

"I _was_," I said. "Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom."

"Sure. Second door to the right, just down that hallway," Kiba said.

I left, entangling myself in my thoughts. After I went to the bathroom I met up with Hinata, who tried to cheer me up.

"Ino, they're just dancing. It-"

"Oh, I'm not even mad about that anymore. Sakura's my friend, but she shouldn't have played dirty like that," I said.

"As jealous as you are right now, imagine how she felt when she saw you talking to him," Hinata said.

"Jealous? Who says I'm jealous? I'm not," I said. "Obviously _she's _jealous. She knows that Sasuke feels something for me, so she had to take him away and seduce him with her sleazy dancing. Look, is that even legal?" I said, pointing.

"Um…whoa…," Hinata said. "I'm pretty sure _that _should be illegal. But how does that saying go- All's fair in love and war?"

"What about the other saying?"

"What other saying?"

"Fight fire with fire. Or in this case, I'll make Sasuke want to get with me by making _him _jealous," I said. "It's perfect."

"Are you sure? Have you even thought this through yet?" Hinata asked.

"What is there to think about? "I said. "I'll just use some guy to make Sasuke jealous. Then he'll come back running to me."

"Well, what if the guy you pick doesn't want to be used?" Hinata said with worried eyes. "This all seems so shady."

"I'll tell you what's shady- Sakura taking Sasuke away from me as if it's no big deal. And don't worry Hina, the guy won't even know he's being used. I'll just fake that I like him or something. It doesn't really matter, this whole charade is only going to last a couple of days," I said.

Oh, how wrong I was.

**********

"What about him?"

"Who, _him_? Eww, no!"

"Ok, what about that guy?"

"Are you blind? He's butt ugly."

"Jeez, why'd you ask for my help then? You're rejecting every guy I pick," Hinata said.

"Then start picking better guys," I said, leaning against a locker.

"What about him over there?" she said, pointing to a guy drinking from the water fountain.

"No," I said.

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Hinata asked, exasperated.

"He's wearing his uniform shirt tucked in. That's a major faux-pas," I said, studying my nails.

"You've got to be kidding me. I quit. No one at this school is apparently good enough for you," Hinata said.

"Hinata, you can't quit on me now. I need your help," I said, pouting.

"Ok, ok, _fine_," she said. The bell rang just then. "By lunch you'll have your guy."

"Great. Luv ya, you're the best!" I said, blowing air kisses to her as I made my way to class. Once at my seat, I applied a fresh coat of lip gloss and waited for Sasuke to come in. Without fail, he walked in through the door and gave me a smirk before sitting down in front of me. He ran a hand through his hair and asked," Had a good time at the party last night?"

"Definitely," I said. "I hardly had time to even catch my breath from all the guys who asked me to dance." Which _you _weren't one, I wanted to say.

"Really? Maybe that's why I couldn't find you afterwards."

"Yeah," I said, knowing the _real _reason was that I was too busy drinking cup after cup of soda and eating chips. No one asked me to dance, except for this pimply-faced guy (but he doesn't count).

"It's too bad. I would have asked you to show me how to dance," Sasuke said.

My eyes widened. "You really meant that?" I asked, my heart beating fast. Sasuke didn't want Sakura, he wanted _me. _

"Sure. You're the expert, aren't you?" he said. "You won some dance competition a few years back, didn't you?"

"Ballet and hip-hop," I chimed in. "Not to brag or anything…anyway, someone like you has waaay too much potential to just be standing in the middle of a dance floor without a clue." Especially with a butt like that. Sasuke blinked at me and I knew by his expression that, crap, I had done it again.

"So…uh…," I said, trying to recover from my blunder. Oh great. Now he's going to think I'm a pervert. "I could teach you some moves…if you want…I mean…" I should just shut up now.

"Um…yeah, sure. That'd be…cool," Sasuke said, already forgetting it from his memory probably.

"Cool," I said, nodding my head, hoping I'd forget it too. By the end of the class, it was still fresh in my mind.

Chemistry quickly passed, and so did Literature. When the bell rang for lunch, I was filled with dread. Who had Hinata picked for me?

I sat down at my usual lunch table with some other girls from my class. I was picking off the sesame seeds from my hamburger roll when Sakura plopped her tray down next to me. I wanted to act indifferent towards her, but I didn't have the heart to. Ugh. It's so much easier to be a bitch towards someone behind her back than it is face-to-face. And Sakura's my best friend. What we have is too legit.

"Hey Ino. Where were you in the morning? I couldn't find you or Hinata anywhere," Sakura said.

"We were just walking around. It was pretty boring actually," I said. It was too. I have never seen so much ugly in my life before.

"This whole school is boring," Sakura said. "I never understood what was so appealing about plaid." Then she looked up and saw Sasuke a few tables away. "Until now."

"He can make a trash bag look good if he wore it," I said. I felt my phone vibrate and took it out from my bag. It was a message from Hinata, telling me to meet her at the school's back courtyard.

"Who was it?" Sakura asked, munching on a carrot stick.

"It was just a reminder from my mom that I have to take Tracy a bath when I get home," I lied. "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom."

"Alright. I'll watch over your food," Sakura said.

"Thanks," I said, dashing out of the cafeteria towards the courtyard. Why did Hinata choose the back one? It's always so empty and she never pegged me as being discreet about things.

I stopped near one of the benches and scouted the area for her. I found her by the corner of the building and waved her over. She smiled nervously and tugged the arm of a guy. As he rounded the corner, I finally saw who it was and gasped. No, it couldn't be.

It was none other than Shikamaru, dragging listlessly behind Hinata with a bored expression on his face. Correction: his _usual _facial expression.

"Ino, here he is, just like you told me," Hinata said. I stared at her, dumbfounded. Why did she have to choose _him _of all people? "I'm sorry Shikamaru, but she's suddenly gone all shy. I guess it's her nerves. Oh well, I'll just leave you two alone now to chat," she said.

"Hinata!" I whispered sharply. But she only waved at me and left. I turned towards Shikamaru and experienced one of the most awkward silences of my life. I looked down at the grass, at the bracelets on my wrists, even up at the sky. And nothing came to mind. I could only imagine what Hinata said to Shikamaru to convince him to meet me here.

"So…do you want to sit down?" Shikamaru asked, nodding towards the bench nearby.

"Um, sure," I said. We sat at a reserved distance from each other.

"Look," Shikamaru said after a while, "either you tell me what you wanted to talk to me about or I'm leaving. Hinata said it was highly important."

I considered whether or not I should initiate my plan. Then it clicked. Shikamaru and Sasuke haven't gotten along in years. He'd be perfect to make Sasuke jealous. His secret lover (that would be me) in the arms of his foe (that would be pineapple head). Absolutely perfect! I'm a genius.

"Ino? Ino?" Shikamaru said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I blinked. Okay, I have to do this. For Sasuke.

"Actually, I just wanted to tell you that…," I stopped, realizing I just couldn't come out and say it. It has to sound like a true confession. Like straight from the heart.

I looked at Shikamaru and imagined him as someone I actually liked. It was hard to imagine. I squinted, trying to find _something. _All I saw were his brown eyes and dark lashed. "Shikamaru, this is hard for me to say," I said, going for the honest approach. "I know you find me annoying and immature, but…but I want to change that now because, um, this is so not easy for me to say…Shikamaru, I…I…I like you, ok?" There. What a strange relief.

"I don't believe you," he said. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

I scoffed, offended. "This isn't a joke! I really do like you, well, at least I think I do. I don't know, but ever since you saved me from that photographer creep, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. You're like my knight in shining armor." Oh, wow, someone give me an Oscar. I'd like to thank my aunt, for taking me to see m first play.

"You're really serious, aren't you?" Shikamaru said. "I just can't believe it." Of course you can't believe it, it's not true. Hehe.

"So, do you wanna go out?" I asked.

"What?" Shikamaru said, incredulous.

"Yeah, you wanna go out with me?" I asked again. Hey, I have to speed up my plan and take full action.

"But just a few days ago we were arguing and now you want to go out? Ino, are you sure you're okay? Maybe face diving into the cake booth did some damage to your head," he said.

Remember, _you _like _him._

"Oh, Shikamaru, if you don't want to go out with me, it's alright," I said, feigning disappointment. "I mean, I'm _annoying, _right? You can't stand me, but I'm willing to change myself…for you. You're a good guy, Shikamaru. I'm starting to see that."

Shikamaru sighed. "What about Sasuke? Did your feelings for him just go away?" he asked. Tricky. I have to be quick on my feet.

"I saw him dancing with some girl at Kiba's party," I replied. "Right now he's not my favorite person in the world."

"Ok," Shikamaru said, nodding his head.

"Huh?" I said.

"I'll go out with you," he said. "Why not? This could be the beginning of something, a friendship, perhaps. Honestly, I was getting tired of arguing all the time. We're going to be adults soon, we should just bury the hatched and act more civilized towards each other."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That'd be nice." Then I leaned over and gave Shikamaru a hug. He stiffened. I quickly drew away. "Uh…that was…different, wasn't it?"

"Did you just hug me?" Shikamaru said, obviously weirded out. I was too, although since I was the instigator, I had to act comfortable about it.

"I won't do it again," I said. "The moment just felt right, I guess."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but seemed to accept my explanation. Just then the bell rang and we both stood up. Damn, lunch ended so soon. I didn't even have time to eat.

"So…I'll walk you home?" Shikamaru asked, unsure.

"Uh, sure, that sounds like a good plan," I said.

"That's cool," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed. I wondered if the conversation home would be something like this. I need to liven things up, seem more interested in him. But if only Shikamaru wasn't so blah.

"Uh, I should get going to class," Shikamaru said.

"Me too," I said. I'll work on the interesting part later.

"My class is that way," Shikamaru said, pointing to the right.

"Mine's the other way," I said, pointing to the opposite direction.

"Okay," he said.

"So…," I said.

"I'll see you later?" he said.

"Totally," I said. "Bye Shikamaru!" And I walked as fast as I could to my next class.

**********

I kicked the back of her chair, hard, and instantly regretted it because I didn't want to scuff my shoes. Hinata turned around in her seat and looked at me fiercely. Oh hell no! Is _she _pissed at _me_? It's definitely the other way around. I kicked her chair again and this time she almost fell. Oops, my bad.

"Ino, quit it already," Hinata said to me.

"Quit what? I'm just taking notes," I said.

"Since when do you pay attention in math? Look, I know you're mad at me, but we'll talk about it later. Ok?" she said.

"Fine," I said.

"And stop kicking my chair," she added. I sighed. She always takes the fun away from things. I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms, waiting for class to end. But that was too boring, so I started to file my nails. When class finally did end I followed Hinata out the door and glared at her.

"I just want you to know that you've completely ruined my life," I said.

"I'm sorry Ino. I knew you'd be upset by my choice, but no other guy seemed suitable. And Shikamaru is a great guy, which you'd know if you weren't so busy hating on him," Hinata said.

"Well, now I have to pretend I like him when I can't even stand him," I said. "Even I'm not that good of an actress. He's going to find out everything I told him during lunch was just a lie. I'm surprised he even believed me so far."

"See? You guys are sorta getting along now. That's good, that's making progress," Hinata said.

"Ugh. He's walking me home. I should probably meet him up…Where does he hang out?" I asked. Hinata shrugged her shoulders.

"He's probably at the front of the school waiting for you," she suggested.

"Right. Well, I'll call you later to say how it all went," I said and dashed towards the school entrance. It was crowded with people. I was about to give up when I spotted Chouji. I marched right up to him.

"Hey Chouji," I said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Where's your best friend at?"

"Why? What evil prank are you going to pull on him this time?" he said, crossing his arms.

"No evil prank, I promise. It's just that he offered too walk me home, that's all," I said.

"I find that hard to believe. Are you sure we're talking about the same Shikamaru?" Chouji said.

"The one and only. You know, people can have a change of heart. Even me," I said. "I'm starting to see the light and damn is it bright."

Chouji laughed. "Ino, I don't know about this 'new' you, but she's a whole lot bubblier…and nicer." What's that suppose to mean? Could it be true what Shikamaru said about me- that I really am a self-centered bitch? My smile faded.

"What's wrong?" Chouji asked.

"Nothing. So, do you know where Shikamaru's at?" I said.

"Right behind you," a familiar voice said. I abruptly turned around and there he was, a lazy smirk on his face.

I was going to comment about his weird appear-out-of-nowhere act, but shut my mouth against it. Instead I smiled up at him. "So, are you ready to walk me home?" I asked.

"Actually, no, there's been a change of plans. I'm not walking you home," he said.

"Wh-What?" I said, not used to being rejected.

"I just remembered that I have a car. So I'm driving you home. I think this is better, I mean, your shoes don't look comfortable to walk in," Shikamaru said. I looked down at my navy blue ankle boots.

"But they're cute," I said, modeling my feet. When I looked up I saw a faint hint of a blush on Shikamaru's cheeks.

"Wow. This is truly astonishing and unbelievable. Are Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara finally getting along now? Are they, dare I say it, _friends _now?" Chouji said.

"You make it seem as if it were impossible," I said.

"Cho, you sure don't want a ride as well?" Shikamaru said.

"No, Kiba, Shino, and I volunteered to plant some trees for our community service. I have to report to the office in a few minutes," Chouji said.

"That's right. You three got stuck with community service for dying the water in the gym's pool," I said. "That was so funny, especially when the swim team came out and they were all blue."

"Well, the consequences aren't so funny. I gotta go, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Chouji said, walking towards the office.

"So, are you ready to go?" Shikamaru said. I nodded my head and we made our way to the parking lot. Again, Shikamaru opened the door for mw and I got in. "How was your day?" he asked politely.

"It was alright. I'm just tired. I always am on Mondays," I said.

"Same here," he said. I snorted in laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," I said, a smile playing on my lips.

"C'mon, spill it," he said. "It's about me, isn't it?"

"It's just that you _always _seem tired, not just on Mondays," I tried to explain. "Your response seemed funny to me, that's all."

"Haha," Shikamaru laughed dryly. "So is that how you see me- as a boring, lazy guy?"

"Hey, you're calling yourself that, not me," I said, trying to keep the mood light. The last thing I wanted was a fight when I was suppose to be 'in like' with him. Time to change the subject. "Are you going to the soccer game this Thursday?" I asked.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it," he said.

"I was just wondering cuz if I was going and you were going as well…we might as well just go together. As friends, of course," I said. Or boyfriend and girlfriend, so long as to make Sasuke aware of the fact that we're a couple, so he can become passionately jealous. After that, goodbye Shikamaru. Au revoir!

"It's this Thursday, you say?" he said, contemplating about it.

"Yeah. It would mean a lot to me if you could go. I'll even buy you an ice cream cone. It gets really hot sitting there in the stands," I said. Talk about desperate.

"Ice cream does sound good…"

"Please?"

"Okay, fine. I'll go to the game," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes.

"Yay! It was the ice cream that did it, wasn't it? No one can resist the power of ice cream. It's, like, humanly impossible," I said.

"And it's also humanly impossible to refuse your insufferable begging," he said, but for once he was teasing me good-heartedly. Strange. We really are acting like friends…and it's so easy.

"I'm just an all-together irresistible girl…who has a pimple! Wha-? How did this happen?!" I said, inspecting my forehead on the passenger mirror. Horrified, I gently touched the reddish spot and felt the slight bump.

"Calm down Ino. It's just acne. Everyone gets it at one time or another," Shikamaru said, parking at my driveway. I scowled and looked at him. His face was blemish-free. Lucky.

"Why didn't you tell me I had a humongous pimple on my face?" I said.

"Uh, was I suppose to? I didn't even notice until-"

"Of course you didn't notice, you're a _guy_. Guys never notice anything," I said, trying to cover the abomination with my bangs. Shikamaru muttered something, but I couldn't make out what it was. "Thanks for the ride. I've got a skin emergency to take care of," I said, getting out of the car.

"Hey, don't forget your bag," Shikamaru said, handing it to me. I took it from him. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure. Bye!" I said, dashing towards my front door. When I entered, my dog Tracy practically flung herself at me and began licking me.

"Ino, is that you dear?" mom said from the living room. She was watching her cheesy soap opera.

"Yeah," I replied, taking my uniform blazer off. Tracy followed me to the kitchen, where I got a drink of water and an apple.

"You got a call from a modeling agency. They wanted to set an appointment with you but I told them you were at school, so you'd call later," my mom said, never tearing her eyes from the TV screen.

"No way. I'm through with modeling," I said, taking a bite from the ripe apple.

"Since when?" she asked.

"Since I moved on to bigger and better things," I said.

"Like what, dear?" mom asked. I sat down next to her on the couch and propped my feet on the coffee table.

"I'm going to become the future Angelina Jolie of my generation," I started. I touched my forehead. "_After _I get a good dermatologist."

***********

The next morning I woke up and immediately checked my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Although _it _was still there, it had lost its humongous size. I could breath easy again.

While I was putting my uniform on, I heard the doorbell ring. Curiously, I looked out through my window and saw Shikamaru's car parked outside. Hmm…? I quickly walked to the top of the staircase and crouched down, trying to listen to the conversation.

"…to see you! Why are you here? Shouldn't you be heading off to school?" I heard my mom say.

"I came here to pick up Ino. I'm giving her a ride to school," Shikamaru said. This piqued my attention. By doing this, he was making it official. I'm sure he has no idea of the implications of this innocent act, but the school will definitely notice. Maybe Sasuke will hear through the grapevine.

"Really?" my mom said, sounding interested. "I can't say I'm all that surprised. I knew this day would come eventually."

"You did?" Shikamaru asked, sounding confused. I quietly crept down the stairs, wanting a better view. Shikamaru was standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets, while my mother was (gasp) still in her nightgown and fuzzy slippers.

"Of course," she said, as if there was nothing wrong with a friend of the family to see her in her nightgown. "It's a mother's intuition. But Shikamaru, do come in." My mom grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. "You're looking way too thin Are you sure your mom's feeding you enough? Well, it doesn't matter, because I made extra pancakes today and…" She dragged Shikamaru to the kitchen. I had to creep along the walls after them to continue listening to their conversation.

"A growing boy like you needs some extra meat on your bones. I remember when I was a little girl and my three older brothers would always eat everything on the table and barely leave anything for me," my mom said, stacking four…five…no, _six _pancakes on Shikamaru's plate. His eyes widened when he saw the tall pile of pancakes. But my mom's truly vicious. She added two links of sausage and two slices of bacon.

"Now, here you go, dear," she said, seating Shikamaru down at the kitchen table. She poured him a glass of milk, a wide smile on her face. "Isn't this nice? It's like you're part of the family already."

"Uh, thanks Mrs. Yamanaka. This is all too much. I'm sure-"

"Oh, it's not a bother at all. Eat up before your breakfast gets cold," mom said, frying more bacon. For who? The kids next door? "Ino! Come down here! You've got a visitor!" she yelled. I counted to five before making my entrance.

"Good morning mom," I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Then I looked over at Shikamaru and acted surprised to see him there. "Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Besides eating until my insides explode, I came here to give you a lift to school," he said.

"That's so nice of you. Are you going to keep making this a habit?" I said, opening the refrigerator.

"Ino, aren't you going to eat any pancakes?" mom asked.

"I'm on a diet, remember?" I said, grabbing a yogurt. Compared to the food piled on Shikamaru's plate, it was rather unappetizing.

"Honey, _I'm _not even on a diet, and I'm the one that should be watching her figure," mom said.

I sat down next to Shikamaru and started to eat a spoonful of my yogurt. From the corner of my eye, I saw the untouched bacon. I mean, he wasn't even eating it, why let it go to waste? I picked up his fork and ate that wonderful, crispy slice of bacon. Mmm. Diet. Schmiet.

"So, I washed Chouji's shirt that you lent me on Saturday, and you can give it back to him," I said through a mouthful of pancake. "It needs more syrup," I added. "Anyway, that funny smell didn't go away. Now it just reeks of bean burrito and lavender lilacs," I said, biting into another mouthful of Shikamaru's pancakes. He just looked at me, as did my mom. "What?"

Nothing. Go on," Shikamaru said, picking up a sausage link, but I slapped his hand away. "Ow!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want that?" I asked.

"Well, ye-"

"It's okay. You said you weren't even that hungry. I'll make the sacrifice and eat it myself," I said.

"I just find it so adorable that you're eating off his plate," my mom said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"What's adorable about that? She's eating like a pig," Shikamaru said with a playful smirk. Then he took the fork away from my hand and ate the sausage. After that we finished the rest of the plate together and talked about some random stuff I don't even remember, although it was definitely funny stuff.

"Well, we should probably get going, unless you want to be late to first period," Shikamaru said, getting up and taking the dishes to the sink himself before I could even protest.

"Ino Yamanaka is never late to school. I've had a perfect attendance since the third grade," I said, getting up as well. I grabbed my school bag from where I left it in the living room yesterday. "All set. Bye mom."

"Bye you two. Have a good day at school," she said as we left.

"I'm sorry about my mom. You know how embarrassing she can be," I said once we were in the car.

"Yes, but luckily your mom isn't as embarrassing as mine," Shikamaru said.

"True," I said in agreement. "Remember when we were like nine or ten and she made us dress like elves for our Christmas pictures?"

"Ugh. Please, don't remind me," he said. I laughed.

"Why not? You looked so cute in your striped leggings," I said. Actually, the leggings were too small and fit tight on him. He had a major wedgie. Hehe.

"I forget, were you on the naughty or nice list that year? I could've sworn you threw a huge tantrum when you didn't get that easy bake oven you wanted," Shikamaru said.

"And that was how my dream as a chef was completely ruined," I said. "And I did _not _throw a tantrum."

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call throwing yourself on the ground and kicking your feet wildly?" Shikamaru said with a wry smirk.

"I call it 'this is what happens when Ino doesn't get her way,'" I said. We entered the school parking lot and Shikamaru quickly found an empty parking space. "Phew. We still have four minutes til the bell rings."

"I told you I wouldn't let you be late to school," Shikamaru said, unbuckling his seat belt and grabbing his backpack. I was already out of the car, applying an extra coat of lip gloss, which I forgot to do at home since we left in such a rush.

I already noticed the stares we were receiving from other people. I looked at Shikamaru to see if he noticed as well. He looked indifferent and carried on as usual. What is it with boys and their lack of awareness? It's so frustrating.

Shikamaru and I walked towards the school entrance together. "So, do you notice anything strange?" I asked him.

"Not really. Did the floors get waxed?" Shikamaru said. "They look shinier than they did last week." Hopeless.

"Um, no. I was talking about…never mind," I said. How can he not feel the hundreds of eyes looking at him…at me…at us??

"Hey, why is everyone looking at us?" he finally asked. Bingo!

"I don't know. Strange, huh?" I said dumbly.

"More like annoying. What are you staring at?" he said to a poor freshman. The younger boy quickly averted his eyes and ran down the hallway. "Jeez. I almost wish the bell could ring right now so I can leave to class and not have to deal with this."

I was going to say something, but then I spotted Sakura. She waved at me, and immediately stopped when she saw who I was with. Then she erupted into the loudest shriek I have ever heard in my life.

*****end of chapter*****

**A/N: REVIEW PLEAZE!! POR FAVOR!! S'IL TE PLAIT!! **

**AND… because so many of you have been asking for it, be on the lookout for a new chapter of ****Teaching Me**** in 2010!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to xoBoiKrazy9x3o, ArAshiMitArArshi, FangirlLynHihiki, Coco-Minu, Riko Kiyoko, .xX, akane0arwen5, Xo565oX, Kailany-Aurora and nanamisakurachan for reviewing! We really appreciate your support.**

_**Previously on the last chapter:**_

_Shikamaru and I walked towards the school entrance together. "So, do you notice anything strange?" I asked him. _

"_Not really. Did the floors get waxed?" Shikamaru said. "They look shinier than they did last week." Hopeless. _

"_Um, no. I was talking about…never mind," I said. How can he not feel the hundreds of eyes looking at him…at me…at us??_

"_Hey, why is everyone looking at us?" he finally asked. Bingo!_

"_I don't know. Strange, huh?" I said dumbly. _

"_More like annoying. What are you staring at?" he said to a poor freshman. The younger boy quickly averted his eyes and ran down the hallway. "Jeez. I almost wish the bell could ring right now so I can leave to class and not have to deal with this."_

_I was going to say something, but then I spotted Sakura. She waved at me, and immediately stopped when she saw who I was with. Then she erupted into the loudest shriek I have ever heard in my life. _

_-_

_-_

_-_

_Faking It_

Chapter Three

It was the shriek heard around the world. I almost forgot how loud Sakura could be. Anyway, she ran up to Shikamaru and me, breathless, and demanded to know if it was true.

"What's true?" I asked, although I already had a good idea of what she meant. But I had to pretend for Shikamaru's sake. Right now, he was trying very horribly to hide his annoyance. I guess some people just don't like the extra attention.

"That you two are _together_ together?" Sakura said, pointing to the both of us. Shikamaru snorted.

"Is that what this is all about?" he said, crossing his arms. "Man, this school is stupid."

"So it's not true? Are you…are you two just friends? I mean, I was skeptical when I received a text that you came to school together and were dating. It had to be a joke because I know how much you're into Sasuke," Sakura said to me. I had been shaking my hands in front of me the entire time she was talking, trying to let her know to shut up before she ruined everything I worked hard to do.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at me. "Still into Sasuke, eh?" he said, slight amusement in his voice. Sakura just looked confused. Thank god the bell rang just then. I skedaddled away from them as fast as I could, but not before I told Sakura that I'd talk to her at lunch…privately.

Oooh, why did she have to say that stuff about Sasuke? I had explicitly told Shikamaru that I wasn't interested in him anymore. Now he's going to think I lied to him (which, technically, I did, but so what?).

I entered my history class and sat down, readjusting my knee-high stockings. I stopped when I heard someone clearing their throat. It was Sasuke. Only he could make my day better.

"Hey," I said, smiling. "Ready for the game on Thursday?"

"Yeah, I just hope the rest of the team is," he said. I laughed. "Anyway, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead," I said. Obviously he wants to know what the deal is with Shikamaru and I. Oh my god, could he be jealous already? My plan is working!

"Naruto spilled his ramen on my backpack yesterday so all my things got wet. I was wondering if I could borrow your notes after class and copy them down. I mean, if that's cool with you," he said.

"Oh," I said, my face falling. This was _not _what I was expecting. "Uh, yeah, it's fine."

"Thanks," Sasuke said, giving me a beautiful grateful smile. "You're a lifesaver, Ino."

My head was in cloud nine the rest of the period. I didn't even hear a word that the teacher said. All I could think about were Sasuke's words and his smile.

The bell rang, interrupting me from my reverie. I gave Sasuke my notebook and he promised he's return it to me soon. By lunchtime, I was focused and ready to talk with Sakura. Now, as much as it pains to deliberately lie to one of my best friends, it's all harmless really. It's not hurting anyone.

"So, Ino, what go you want to talk about that we have to hide in the school's copy room?" Sakura said, offering me half of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which she knows how much I love).

"Well," I said, munching on the crust, "I just want you to know that I think you put your foot in your mouth this morning."

"What are you talking about? Do you mean that stuff I said about Sasuke?" she said.

"Bingo," I said, "You see, uh, certain _things _have happened and I'm finding myself interested in Shikamaru."

Sakura looked at me and burst out in laughter. I actually felt sort of offended because that was some of my best acting.

"Why are you laughing? This isn't funny. I'm being totally serious," I said.

"Hahaha…oh, I'm sorry, but hahaha…it's just…you…and Shikamaru? The thing you hate more in the world than carbs? Oh, I just…that's _too _funny," Sakura said, wiping away her tears of laughter.

I would have laughed too but it would have given me away. I bit into my sandwich to gain me more time.

"Shikamaru is a nice guy," I said. "I don't know why I never saw that before. I was blinded by hatred, I guess. There were too many bad memories between us, but I should've just left that in the past." Yeah, right. Shikamaru threw a mud ball at me when we were eight and ruined my dress. He put a worm in my spaghetti when we were eleven. Ugh! I can't just forget stuff like that.

"So you two made peace with each other? I can't believe that I'm last to know," Sakura said.

"It just happened yesterday. I would've texted you," I said, wishing I had a glass of milk to wash down the peanut butter with (and the guilt).

"Wow," Sakura said, taking it all in. "Who would ever have thought that Ino Yamanaka would be chasing after Shikamaru Nara. What made you change your mind about him?"

I never told any of my friends about my disastrous modeling experience at Tal's apartment because I didn't want to worry them (or hear their nagging about my irresponsible, idiotic ways. I know they mean well, but it gets so annoying sometimes). So I lied to Sakura and made up a story about how Shikamaru and I bonded during our volunteer hours at the golf tournament.

"….is such a good movie, and one of his favorites," I said.

"So…does that mean that Sasuke is now fair game?" Sakura asked.

I blinked, caught off guard. Although I should've known. "…I never said that…"

"Yes, but you don't want him anymore if you're obviously into Shikamaru now. You just said that-"

"It doesn't matter what I said, you still can't have him."

"That makes no sense," Sakura said.

"It actually does. Don't you see that Sasuke is threatening our friendship?" I asked.

"Is that how you feel about it? Oh, Ino, you're my best friend and no guy could ever come between us," she said.

"Well, I suggest we have a truce and that neither one of us try to win him. Agreed?" I said, sticking my pinkie out.

"Agreed," she said, hooking her pinkie with mine. But I saw the hesitation.

"Good. Now let's get out of here. I can only stand the smell of printer ink for so long," I said, opening the door to leave.

Now with the truce, Sakura can't say anything about who Sasuke picks as his girlfriend because I didn't try to get him. Once she sees that Sasuke liked me since the beginning, she can't feel bad.

Ino: 1, Sakura: 0.

**********

During my passing period, I managed to spot Shikamaru among the sea of students. I grabbed his arm and yanked him towards me. "Hey buddy," I said brightly.

"Okay, _homie_," Shikamaru said, humoring me before he turned serious. "Look, if you want to talk about Sasuke, I don't really want to hear it."

"Well then, cover your ears so you don't listen because I still have to say it," I said. I realized I still had a hold on his arm and quickly let it go. "Sakura's trying to sabotage me. That's why she said that horrible lie."

"Sakura's your friend. Why would she sabotage you?" Shikamaru asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Because…she doesn't want me near you, that's why. She goes after every guy I like. First it was Sasuke, and now you…who knows, maybe tomorrow it will be…Naruto!" I said, seeing him across the hallway. He was walking to class with a skinny chicken-legged girl from our grade, and they looked cozy together.

"Naruto? What, you're into him now?" Shikamaru said, incredulous.

"No, no, oh god no, it's just…look at that fool! What is he doing with _her_? He's suppose to be with Hinata," I said. "She has better legs and…what were we talking about again?"

"Sabotage," he said.

"Oh, right. Yeah, Sakura's _so _jealous. She doesn't want to see us together. She even gave up one Sasuke," I said. "And I thought that would _never _happen. But, like you said, she's my friend. My best friend, and we've never let a guy come between us. Not now, not ever."

"Wow. That's a little too much to take in for a passing period," Shikamaru said. "I'll see you later, Ino. Meet me at the parking lot after school."

"You're going to give me a ride home again?" I asked.

"Well, you _are_ wearing four-inch heels," he said. "Don't your feet ever get tired?"

"Not really," I said. "See you after school." Once I was out of his sight, I sighed in relief. It's amazing how I can patch things up. But it's so draining. Ugh. Math is even more draining.

"Hinata! Help meee," I whined, tapping my pencil on the back of her seat. "I don't get it."

"You don't get what?" she said, turning her head around.

"Everything!" I said, slamming the textbook shut. "It's useless. I listen, I really do, but it just seems to go through one ear out the other."

"Hyuga, head front, please. And Miss Yamanaka, be quiet and get back to work," the teacher said. I stuck my tongue our at her once her back was turned. I stared off into space for a while, bored out of my freakin' mind, until I glanced to my left and saw Shino with his pencil rapidly flying across his page. Whoa.

"Shino. Hey," I whispered to him. He turned to look at me. "Can you help me with the problems? Maybe if I get a look at your paper, everything will start to make sense to me." I smiled sweetly.

"Are you asking to copy from me?" Shino asked.

"Dang, you are smart!" I said. "Nothing gets by you, does it? So…is that a yes?"

Shino smirked. "What do I get out of it?"

"The extreme pleasure of helping a friend out," I replied.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of you finishing the rest of my community service for me," he said.

"You're still not finished with that?" I said. "How much time did the school give you?"

"Enough for me to think twice before pulling a prank with Chouji and Kiba," he said.

"Look, I _really _need the help but I'm not _that _desperate. Sorry, but you're just going to have to finish it yourself," I said, slumping down in my seat. I'm doomed to fail this class. And when I do- bye bye cheerleading.

"Ino, why don't you just get a tutor or something?" Shino suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," I said, sitting back up. "Do you know anyone who's tutoring?"

Shino shook his head. "But I'm sure you can find someone willing to help you. Shikamaru's top in his advanced math class, you know," he said.

"Shino, if you get any smarter, your head's going to become too small for your brain," I said. "Of course, Shikamaru! Why didn't I think of that?"

Class ended fifteen minutes later and I tried to make a quick getaway but Hinata intercepted me. "So, your plan went off without a hitch?" she asked me.

"Don't worry Hinata," I said.

"Who said anything about being worried?" she said, fumbling with the books in her hands.

"I know that face," I said. "You're worried if I'm in too over my head. But I'm not. Everything's going smoothly."

"Oh yeah? Then why is Sasuke still acting indifferent?" Hinata said.

"That's all going to change on Thursday," I said as we walked to the school's parking lot. I could already see Shikamaru waiting for me by his car.

"I have a bad feeling about this. It's wrong to mess with people's feelings, Ino," Hinata said, her eyes rimmed with red. I looked at her with concern.

"Hinata, are you okay? Have you been crying?" I asked.

"N-No…I…," she said, looking down.

"Oh my god, you saw them, didn't you? Don't get teary over that, please," I said, patting her shoulder. "Naruto and you are meant to be together and that ugly she-witch is just an obstacle that can easily be dealt with."

"You think so?" Hinata said.

"Obviously. Those kind of obstacles always go away by themselves naturally. But…if that obstacle is persistent, she will have to go away _un_naturally," I said, scheming with ideas.

"Ino, I know _that _face," Hinata said. "And no, stop trying to meddle with fate. It'll happen when it happens. Now, go over there with your 'boy toy.' Ugh. I hate even saying it, but I can't think of a better word."

"Being friends with Shikamaru isn't all that hard, actually. As for toying with his emotions, I hardly doubt it's affecting him. He seems to be going with the flow. When I dump him, he'll most likely go back to his old flow and be just as content with his life as he was before," I said philosophically.

Hinata just looked at me, shaking her head. "Bye. And stop worrying," I said as I walked towards Shikamaru's car. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke to the right of me, hanging out with his soccer buddies. And right in front of me, standing in the perfect position, and totally oblivious, was Shikamaru. I ran straight for him and leaped into his arms with a loud squeak. He _barely _caught me.

"Shikamaru! I missed you!" I said, clinging on to him with my feet dangling about five inches off the ground.

"Ugh…Ino, you're _heavy_," he said. To which I smacked his head and he put me down. I turned my head around. Damn it! Sasuke didn't notice.

"Look, Ino, I'm confused. What are we?" Shikamaru asked.

"We're humans," I said. Duh. And they call _him _a genius.

"No, I mean…what's the relationship between us? What would you call us?" Shikamaru said, finally making some sense.

"Well, we're friends aren't we?" I said.

"Are we friends? Or are we something else?" he asked. "I mean, what you just did right now…would you do that to your other guy friends?"

"Shikamaru, you know I like you," I said, trying to put as much feeling as I could into my voice. "And maybe we could go on a date sometime soon," I said.

"I thought going together to the soccer game was a date," Shikamaru said.

I scoffed. "_That _is not a date. Wait, what do _you _consider a date?" I said.

"I don't know. Two people agreeing to hang out somewhere, I guess," he said.

"There is a big difference between hanging out and dating. Jeez. No wonder you've never had a girlfriend before," I said, then immediately regretted it. Damn. I'm going to end up ruining my own plan. Nice going Ino.

"How do you know I haven't had a girlfriend before?" Shikamaru said.

"Well, have you?" I asked, a bit surprised. This was news to me.

"Actually, yeah, I have," he replied defensively.

"Who was it?" I asked. He's probably making this up just to compensate for the fact that he's never had one.

"Are you jealous?" Shikamaru asked.

I was going to say 'hell no' but then I remembered that fake Ino who fake likes Shikamaru would be fake jealous. "So what if I am? So who was it?" I said.

"I'm not going to tell you. That information is private to me. So, let's just get in the car so I can drive you home. This conversation is over," he said. Harsh.

During the silent ride home, I wondered who Shikamaru's ex could be and why he was being so secretive about it. So many ideas popped into my head. Maybe she was really ugly and he feels embarrassed to admit who it was. Or maybe she dumped him and he can't even stand to talk about her because he feels so hurt and angry about it.

"Thanks for the ride Shikamaru," I said with a forced cheery smile.

"How can you be so happy all the time?" he asked. "Doesn't it get exhausting?"

"What's so exhausting about being happy and upbeat? It's a lot healthier than brooding all the time and feeling teen angst," I said. "You should try it sometime." And with that incredible advice being said, I left the car and went inside to my house.

**********

Wednesday reared its ugly head the next day and brought a little gift. It only took one look for my mom to figure out I was on my period. "May God have mercy on us all. It's that time of the month again," she said while I was eating my cereal. Dad, who was going to work later than usual, almost choked on his omelet.

"Uh…how are you feeling Ino?" he asked cautiously. He knows by now to be careful around me because I could easily turn vicious on him. To some extent, I actually like having the right to be a total bee-yotch for a few days out of the month.

"How do you think I'm feeling? I feel all fat and bloated," I said.

"You look…nice today," dad said. Nice? Is that he best he can do?

"You're lying. I look like a complete hippo," I said. "I think I'll just go to school now. Mom, are you ready?" I said.

"But isn't Shikamaru going to pick you up?" mom asked. "Oh, don't tell me you two broke up already?" And this time dad really did choke on his food.

"Wh-What?!" he said after he washed it down with coffee.

"Chillax, dad. We're not even going out…yet," I said, fixing my bag for the day.

"Don't you loathe Shikamaru?" dad asked, confused.

"Loathe is a strong word," I said.

"I thought you said he was the bane of your existence. Shikamaru…damn, I thought he was one less boy I had to worry about," he said, frowning into his mug.

"Cheer up Inoichi. Now our get-togethers with the Naras will be more pleasant, don't you think? And the two kids make such a cute couple. Besides, you've known Shikamaru since he was a little boy. You can trust him," mom said. My dad sighed.

"Okay mom, let's go," I said. Just as those words lefts my mouth, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!"

"No, I will," my dad said, standing up from his seat. My mom and I exchanged worried looks. I decided to follow behind my dad, knowing no good could come out of this.

My dad straightened his suit before opening the door. Shikamaru looked up at him and was taken aback. Curiously, I looked at my dad and saw that he was glaring at Shikamaru. Like I said, _not _good.

"Umm…good morning Mr. Yamanaka," Shikamaru said, clearly wondering what he could've done to upset my father.

"Ah, hello Shikamaru. It's been such a long time since we've seen each other," he said.

"Actually, we saw each other just last week," Shikamaru stated.

"Of course, of course," dad said, rubbing his temple. "Look Shikamaru, I'm going to quit with this whole 'intimidating act' with you because I can see it's not going to work."

"Sir?" Shikamaru said, confused.

"I know that you and my daughter are seeing each other," dad said. I smacked my head with my hand.

"We're just friends, Mr. Yamanaka. I don't know what Ino's been telling you, but we're not 'seeing each other,'" he said. "At least, not in the way that you mean."

"Oh, good. That's good. Well, if you two are just friends, then I approve," dad said, clapping Shikamaru on the back.

"What's going on?" my mom said beside me.

"It seems like dad approves of our friendship," I said. "But what are they whispering about?" I strained my ears to listen.

"…look after Ino. You know, make sure no wrong guys come after her. I'd really appreciate that," dad said.

"Will do, sir," Shikamaru said.

"Thanks. And let's just keep this between us," dad said. I was seething. I don't need any protection. I'm a _cheerleader_, I can take care of myself.

"I can't believe this," I said, turning to face my mom. "Dad just asked Shikamaru to look after me. He has no right to do that. It's completely stifling my independence."

"He's your father, Ino. He just wants to keep you safe. Although it is a bit sneaky of him to ask something like that of Shikamaru," mom said.

"Ino, sweetie, looks who's here," dad said, bringing Shikamaru inside the house. I glared at the both of them- dad for being so overprotective and Shikamaru for agreeing to something so heinous.

"I guess today is the official Glare at Shikamaru Day," he said. "Uh, you're ready to go Ino?"

Without a word, I kissed my mother goodbye on the cheek, brushed past my father and Shikamaru and walked out the door towards Shikamaru's car. It was unlocked, so I just got in and waited for him to come out. A few seconds later, he came out of the house and got in the car, turning the ignition on. I stared out the window and sighed, wishing I had wings so I could fly out of here.

"What happened to the happy-go-lucky girl from yesterday?" Shikamaru asked, breaking the silence.

"She fell off a cliff," I said.

"Ouch," he commented.

"Yeah, but the doctors say that she'll make a quick recovery," I said. "It's just one of those days where everything starts off wrong, but the ending is bound to be a good one." Hopefully.

"What's wrong…or is that too much of a personal question?" Shikamaru asked. I sighed again, not wanting to talk about it. Having him look after me isn't necessarily such a horrible thing, but it is an invasion of privacy. But why would he? I mean we're "friends" and friends care about each other…so does he care about me? I care a lot about Sakura and Hinata, but I actually like them, and up to this point Shikamaru and I have been mean towards one another. Can a former enemy really care about me? What does that even mean?

**********

**11:45 a.m.- Lunchtime**

**I am starving and craving something cheesy but all they have is mystery meatloaf. Eww! **

"I think the potato salad just winked at me," I said. "That's it, I'm getting something from the vending machine."

"Oh, get me a bag of Cheetos please," Sakura said, handing me a dollar.

"Sure. Anyone else want anything while I'm up?" I asked the group of girls at our table. They all shook their heads. I went to one of the vending machines in the cafeteria and bought a bag of Doritos, Gatorade, trail mix, and a chocolate bar…oh, and Sakura's chips as well. I turned around and bumped into Sasuke who was in line behind me.

I blushed, trying to hide all the food from him. Oh great, now he's going to think I'm such a pig. "H-Hey. Sorry," I said.

"No prob. I'm actually glad you bumped into me," Sasuke said.

My heart fluttered. "You are?" I said.

"Yeah. It gives me a chance to return you your notebook. Thanks, by the way," he said, giving me my history notebook back. "You have nice handwriting. And the doodles on the side were funny."

"Hehe, I totally forgot about those….the class gets so boring sometimes," I said. Someone cleared their throat behind us.

"Excuse me, but could you two move your conversation elsewhere? You're holding up the line," he said. I scowled at him.

"Well, I should get going. Bye," I said to Sasuke. I sat back down with my friends. "Here's your Cheetos Sak," I said. She eyed me with distrust.

"Did you forget about out truce or does it just not apply to you anymore?" she said.

"Oh my god, I promised I wouldn't try to get at him, not act all hostile. What- now I can't even smile and say hi to him? I was just being polite and friendly," I said, opening my bag of chips.

"Oh. What did you two talk about?" Sakura said curiously.

"Nothing of great importance," I said.

Sakura sighed. "This is so hard. I just find it easier to avoid him completely," she said. "At least you have Shikamaru to flirt with shamelessly."

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Hinata asked, feeling left out on something. "Truce? What truce?"

"Ino and I made a truce to not go after Sasuke anymore since it was ruining our relationship," Sakura said. I could feel Hinata's eyes on me, criticizing.

"And you agreed to it?" Hinata said.

"Well, yeah. Besides, I heard from Naruto that Sasuke already has someone in mind to ask to the Homecoming dance with," Sakura said. I tried to hide my smile. That 'someone' could only be me. And the dance is just a few weeks away.

"I always said that Naruto spoke the truth," I said.

"No you didn't. You're always complaining how unreliable a source he is because he over exaggerates," Hinata said. The bell rang and we all got ready to go to our next class.

Later on, at the beginning of math class, Hinata turned around in her seat and said, "That was really low."

"Please don't criticize me and make me feel even worse that I do now," I said. "It's like if I have a heavy weight on my chest."

"I think the word you're looking for is quilt. You're ruining the chances of Sakura being with Sasuke," Hinata said.

"Aha! I always knew you were rooting for her instead of me," I said.

"I just don't think it's fair. You have the upper hand while she's…she's got nothing. If she follows her heart, she'll break the truce and risk your friendship. But if she sticks with the truce, she'll be heartbroken," she said.

"Hinata, you promised me you wouldn't tell anyone of my plan. Besides, you're my accomplice. Sakura will be just as mad at you if you tell her the truth," I said.

"I know," she said miserably. "Instead of pretending to like Shikamaru, can't you at least try to actually get to like him?" Hinata suggested. To which I laughed.

"Shikamaru and I aren't destined to be together," I said.

"How do you know that?" Hinata asked.

"Because don't you think I'd know by now if we were? I practically jumped him yesterday at the parking lot and I didn't feel anything. And neither did he," I said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to learn." I gave my undivided attention to the teacher and took notes on the lesson.

When class ended, I automatically made my way to the parking lot, a frown marring my face. Chouji was talking to Shikamaru and noticed me. "Had a rough day?" he asked.

"Let's just say that it can't get any worse," I replied, taking out my chocolate bar from lunch. "You want to know something, Chouji? I feel like no one cares about my feelings sometimes. I'm the one that's always worrying, even though it may seem like I live a fabulous, carefree life. Do you know how hard it is to be me?"

"How hard can it be? All you do is apply about five or six coats of lip gloss every two hours," Shikamaru said.

"Haha," I said dryly.

"Well, see you later," Chouji said.

"Boys," I muttered under my breath. Mention the word 'feelings' and they go running away.

"Okay, out with it," Shikamaru said once we were on the road.

"With what?" I said.

"With whatever has got you in such a bad mood. Don't all girls want a friend who will listen to them spill their troubles? And I promise I won't be judgmental."

I looked at him from the corner of my eye and smiled wryly. "Do you really want to hear it?" I asked.

"If it'll get you to stop moping," he said.

For the next twenty minutes I told Shikamaru about my guilt of having to lie to Sakura because of a certain boy (I made Shikamaru believe it was him), how Hinata was lowering my self esteem, and on top of all that I had huge stomach cramps.

"Umm…I think I have some pain relievers," he said, leaning over and opening the glove compartment. We were parked outside my house and I could see my mom spying on use from the window. "Here you go. Sorry but I don't have any water or anything."

"It's okay. I can dry swallow it," I said, popping the pill into my mouth.

"Well, you and Sakura will have to come to an understanding. I'd talk to her, but I don't want to get involved," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, getting involved would be bad," I said quickly. "I mean, I lied and said I wouldn't go after you just to make her feel better. I thought if she believed I wasn't into you anymore, she'd back off from you and go back to liking Sasuke, but she's totally avoiding the guy.

I just feel so horrible lying to her. We even made a truce…but I think I'm going to break it." I looked at Shikamaru with a meaningful gaze and his ears reddened.

"Going after me isn't as interesting as you thought it'd be, is it? I mean, you used to call me boring and lazy all the time," he said.

"I'm sorry for calling you that." I was being truthfully sincere. "I know you a bit better now and you're a great guy Shikamaru. You've listened to me babble for almost half an hour now and not once have you complained. Thanks for listening…I feel better now."

Then I hugged him, not caring if I had hated his touch in the past. Right now his skin felt comforting. Weird, but at that moment I needed to be comforted.

"Ok…um, bye," I said, getting out of his car. He started to back out of my driveway, raising his hand in a small wave. I waved back before opening the front door. I was bombarded by my mother.

"Jeez mom, you scared the shit out of me," I said, clutching my chest.

"So…did he ask you yet?" she said excitedly.

"Ask me what?" I said.

"To be his girlfriend."

"No. And I don't appreciated being spied on."

"He hasn't? Well, what is he waiting for? That boy may be a genius, but he is slow when it comes to other things," my mom said.

"I don't know," I said, wondering if I should abandon my plan. Is it even worth it? Then I remembered Sasuke's wonderful smile and everything made sense again. I'm doing this for him.

**********

**4:10 p.m.- Soccer Game**

**I'm sitting on the bleachers and cheering like a lunatic**

"Woah! Go 37, go!" I yelled. Shikamaru looked at me like I really was crazy.

"You're very enthusiastic…for 37," he said.

"Well, uh, he is the star player," I said lamely. Shikamaru scoffed.

"Looks like the star player just got the ball taken away from him," he said. Sadly, it was true. Sasuke wasn't on top of his game; he looked distracted. "Lame, if you ask me," Shikamaru commented, putting his hands behind his head and watching the game with half interested, lidded eyes.

My phone vibrated and I flipped it open, reading the message Sakura gave. She was only sitting a few seats down from me with Hinata.

_OMG what's up wit Sasuke?? He's playing horrible!_

_I know! I almost cant watch but it's like a bad train crash I cant look away from_

The worse Sasuke played, the more Naruto shone. He was really pulling the team along (and I can't believe I'm saying this but…) he was amazing!

"Finally this game is getting interesting," Shikamaru said from beside me. His eyes were more alert.

"Na-ru-to! Na-ru-to!" I yelled along with the rest of the crowd, stomping my feet on the bleachers. "C'mon Shikamaru, you've got to get in the cheering spirit," I said, grabbing his hands and clapping them together several times. They felt smooth and warm.

"Go Naruto," he said unenthusiastically.

"Uh, I'll stick to the cheering and you can just work on your tan," I said.

"My tan? I think I'm dark enough as it is," Shikamaru said, rubbing his golden bronze arm.

"Sure, you say that now, but you've got to soak up as much sun as you can before winter comes," I said.

"Winter isn't until another two months. And what about you- why aren't _you _tanning? I just saw you dab on like half a bottle of sunscreen."

"The difference is that I'm a fair skinned beauty with a delicate complexion," I replied. Shikamaru snorted and continued watching the game while I cheered for the both of us.

As happy and optimistic as I was on the outside, I was freakin' having a meltdown on the inside. There was something I had to do, something that no amount of time could prepare me for. And I was stressing out. All it took was one look at those lips for me to get flustered again. Every time I convinced myself now was the time to d o it, I'd immediately back out. It was making my mouth dry like the Sahara Desert.

"Damn am I thirsty," I said, wetting my lips. I noticed a soda vendor nearby and raised my arm to signal for his attention, but in my flustering state I accidentally smacked the guy in front of me in the back of the head, causing him to smash his face in his hot dog. His chin was covered in ketchup and (eww) relish.

"I am _so _sorry," I quickly apologized. I randomly grabbed something lying next to me and offered it to him so he could wipe his face. I realized I grabbed someone's sweater by mistake and (embarrassed) I chucked it somewhere to get rid of the evidence. Unfortunately, it landed on someone's head a few seats down. I quickly ducked, completely and totally mortified.

I forgot about Shikamaru who watched the whole thing with confusion. "Ino, are you okay?" he asked me. I was still in my ducking position but sat back down when I thought it was safe again.

"Yeah," I replied. "Oh, I got another message from Sakura…_hey, did you see that? Some crazy idiot threw a dirty sweater at someone in the bleachers_," I read.

"Crazy, maybe. But idiot seems too harsh," Shikamaru said.

"Has anyone seen my sweater?" a stout guy asked in general to the people sitting in our area.

"Eeek!" I squeaked, hiding behind Shikamaru.

"Ino, quit acting so weird," he said.

"Alright," I sighed, raising my head from its hiding spot. "Is my hair all messed up?"

"Yes," Shikamaru replied.

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed.

"Don't freak out, I was only kidding," he said. "Now let's just watch the game in peace." I tried really hard to focus on the game but in my head I couldn't help but think of what was going to happen soon. Thank god for the half-time.

"I promised you ice cream, didn't I?" I said.

"Only reason why I came," Shikamaru said with a playful smirk.

"Don't lie. You know you enjoy my company," I said, trying to ease my nerves with some light banter. "Anyway, I'll go buy it right now. What flavor do you want?" I asked.

"Orange sherbet sounds good," Shikamaru said.

"'Kay," I said, grateful to leave him for a few minutes. I took my sweet time getting to the ice cream cart. There were only a few people in line.

"What'll it be young lady?" the vendor asked me.

"Two scoops of orange sherbet on the first cone and…uh…I'll have two scoops of double chocolate chip," I said, handing him a five dollar bill. He gave me my two ice cream cones along with my change. "Thanks," I said before walking back to the bleachers. I spotted Sasuke alone on the sidelines, cradling his head in his hands. He looked miserable.

"Cheer up 37!" I called out to him. He looked up, saw me, and offered me a weak smile.

I finally reached Shikamaru, but before I could hand him his ice cream I tripped on someone's bag and fell to my knees. The ice cream cone slipped from my hands and landed on Shikamaru's _sensitive _spot, cone side up, orange sherbet dripping on to his jeans. Luckily, my ice cream cone was still safely in my hands.

"Shikamaru!" He just looked down at himself, a very odd expression on his face. "I'm sorry, I'm such a klutz. Look, I can buy you another-"

"…C-Cold…," he mumbled.

"Huh?…Oh!" I said, my cheeks flushing. Without thinking, I leaned towards him and reached out to swipe the ice cream cone away but Shikamaru shuddered from me.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, removing it himself. There was a huge wet spot on his jeans.

"I'm going to get you some napkins," I said, standing up.

"No, you wait here. _I'll _go," Shikamaru said, leaving. I looked around and noticed several people were staring. I glared back at them and they finally looked away.

I texted Hinata and told her of my misfortune. She gave a quick reply, which did nothing to calm me.

Shikamaru came back, a tired expression on his face. "Where's your ice cream?" he asked, as if nothing embarrassing has just happened.

"I threw it away. I wasn't in the mood after…aren't you mad at me?"

"No. It was an accident, right?" he said. I nodded my head and dropped the subject. The referee blew the whistle, starting the second time. I clapped, I cheered, I even laughed when Naruto head-banged the soccer ball and ended up with a huge red mark on his forehead.

"There's only a minute left until the end of the game. Do you think Naruto can break the tie?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course," I said. "I've been yelling my butt off for him. C'mon 15! You can do _this_!"

"I think I just saw your right cheek fly off," Shikamaru teased. I looked over at him and inside I knew this was the moment. He was sitting there, the ghost of a smile on his face, and the sun was illuminating him perfectly. I turned my head towards him and I could see a look of curiosity in his eyes ad I unexpectedly crashed my lips on to his and kissed him. There was an explosion of cheers in the same moment, for Naruto had made the winning goal.

*****end of chapter*****

**A/N: Yes, we enjoy leaving you with a cliffhanger. But we'll give you a taste of what's going to happen in the next chapter: **

"_**Ino, I'd lay off the chocolate bars if I were you or soon you'll be too heavy to lift," Tsuchina said, considering me with her deep amber eyes. "Okay, give me twenty push-ups," she ordered, crossing her arms. **_

"_**What?" I said, incredulous. Everyone else had their eyes glued to the floor, clearly not wanting to be a part of this. "Why?"**_

"_**Because you're bulging out of your shorts." She demonstrated this by pinching the small amount of skin that was hanging out from my waistband line.**_

"_**Quit it Tsu!" Kim said. Finally someone was standing up for me. **_

"_**Quit what? I just want to make it perfectly clear that Konoha High will not have a fat cheerleader on the team," Tsuchina said. **_

"_**I am NOT fat," I said. "So what if I have a little bit of meat on me, eh?"**_

"_**Oh, that's right, I almost forgot…Shikamaru likes them chunky, doesn't he?" she said with a devious chuckle. **_

_**I was about to lunge out at her, but several girls held me back. "Calm down Ino, she's just messing with you," Fumiyo said. **_

"_**You're right," I said, breaking free from their grasps. "She can't get to me. You hear that Tsuchina? You can't get to me. I am waaay above your childish schemes."**_

"_**Oh really? Well, if you really are above all this, let's have you be on top for today," she said. **_

_**Being on top of the pyramid was like the greatest honor. So I accepted, although my dumbass should've known better. This had 'sabotage' written all over it. **_

**Please review!! We really like to hear your feedback on the story**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Muchas gracias for the reviews!! In order to clear any confusion, the chapter begins with a phone conversation between Ino and Sakura, so it doesn't pick up exactly where the previous chapter ended. But it'll make sense because they explain everything that happened after the kiss.**

_**Previously on the last chapter:**_

"_**There's only a minute left until the end of the game. Do you think Naruto can break the tie?" Shikamaru asked.**_

"_**Of course," I said. "I've been yelling my butt off for him. C'mon 15! You can do this!" **_

"_**I think I just saw your right cheek fly off," Shikamaru teased. I looked over at him and inside I knew this was the moment. He was sitting there, the ghost of a smile on his face, and the sun was illuminating him perfectly. I turned my head towards him and I could see a look of curiosity in his eyes ad I unexpectedly crashed my lips on to his and kissed him. There was an explosion of cheers in the same moment, for Naruto had made the winning goal. **_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_Faking It_

Chapter Four

"Everyone is talking about it, and I mean _everyone_," Sakura said over the phone. Thank god she couldn't see me because I looked like a green faced monster with my avocado face mask on. "I didn't see because I was busy watching Sa…the game, but how was it?"

"It was just a kiss, nothing special," I said, plopping down on my bed. It was scattered with different nail polish bottles. I couldn't seem to pick a color. I sighed. "Honestly Sak, the kiss wasn't magical."

"What? Was it that bad? I mean, the circumstance itself wasn't really romantic, but…you didn't feel _anything_?" Sakura asked.

"Well, our teeth accidentally banged against each other, but that was entirely my fault. I shouldn't have been so hasty to kiss him," I replied.

"Ino…," Sakura groaned.

"I know, I know," I said. "Anyway, so as I was kissing him I couldn't help but notice several things."

"Like what?"

"For one thing, he has soft lips. Sakura, stop laughing. Really, for being a guy, Shikamaru has some nice lips and I don't know what he ate before the game, but his breath smelled good too. Sak! Stop it!"

"Fine. So he had nice lips, eh? And nice breath too. Shikamaru definitely has good kissing qualities. Who would've thought?"

"Yeah. But let me tell you what happened next. So we're kissing, right, then all of a sudden I hear all these people cheering and I don't know why, but I think the cheers are for us. It kinda freaked me out, and I jumped a bit in my seat…and that's when we both fell to the floor."

"Wait, were you guys still kissing?" Sakura asked.

"Well, yeah, I latched n to Shikamaru as we both fell, but he thought I was taking the kiss to a whole different lever. I just needed someone to cushion the blow. By the way, I owe Shikamaru a new outfit. I ruined his clothes with the ice cream and let me just say people leave some nasty stuff on the floor," I said, shuddering from the memory. I still don't know what that blue gunk was.

"So what happened afterwards? I only saw when you two got back up and Shikamaru looked a mess. Then you ran your ass out of there."

"He pulled away from the kiss and just gawked at me. I was so embarrassed and confused. For once I didn't know what to do. I wanted t- oh, hang on Sak, I've got another call," I said.

"Hurry back. This is getting interesting," she said.

I pressed the HOLD button and answered the call waiting. "Ino," the voice said. It was Shikamaru. "We need to talk."

"_Je regrette. Non parler anglais,_" I said.

"Nice try, but you can't fake your way out of this conversation," he said. Oh yes I can.

"I'm on the other line with Sakura, so you'll just have to call back later." Or never.

"Don't hang up on me. I know how you are Ino, you'll avoid me at school or something so we can't talk about it, but it's important," Shikamaru said.

"Fine. Just wait, okay?" I said. I went back to my previous line. "Hello? You still there?"

"Yeah. Who was that?" Sakura asked.

"The devil himself."

"Shikamaru?"

Hm-hm. But I don't want to talk to him," I said.

"You have to. Look, call me later and tell me how it went. And Ino…hear him out. I know you. You'll just blow up in his face to compensate for your insecurities. But Shikamaru is a cool guy. He won't use ugly words to make you feel horrible for what you did," Sakura said.

"Okay. I'll try to follow your advice. Bye," I said, hanging up. It was only Shikamaru left. "Hey, I'm back."

"I thought you were going to keep me on hold forever," he said.

"No, I'm not _that _evil," I replied, a little hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to talk about what happened earlier today…you know, when I…yelled at you," Shikamaru said, his voice remorseful.

"Oh, I've kinda been trying to erase that from my memory. Thanks for bringing it back again," I said sarcastically.

"I called to apologize. I feel lousy for saying all that stuff to you. But then I thought, if I feel lousy I could only imagine how you must be feeling," he said. "I'm sorry Ino. I'm really sorry."

I couldn't help it, I started to tear up. Everyone saw us kiss and they saw me leaving, but it was so loud that no one heard what Shikamaru said to me, nor did they see me crying as I ran down the bleachers. Now everything came rushing back.

After we had stood up from the floor, Shikamaru looked at himself in disgust, for his shirt was covered in blue, slimy gunk. "Ugh, gross," he had muttered. Then he looked at me, his eyes slits. "What the hell is your problem?"

I had tried to find words to defend myself. "Why are you acting like this? Like some crazy woman. Just stop it!" Shikamaru shouted, loud enough for me to feel the sting. Ouch. I bit my lip and quickly turned around, running towards the parking lot. I called my mom and asked her to pick me up.

Back to the present, where Shikamaru was still waiting for my response. "Ino? Ino? Hello? You there?"

"I'm here. And I accept your apology," I said, realizing I had no ill feelings towards him. I heard Shikamaru give a sigh of relief.

"Good. So you don't hate me?" he said.

"Not completely," I said with a smile he couldn't see. "Although…if you really want to make it up to me, you could take me to Starbucks tomorrow before school."

"Alright. If that's all it takes," he said.

"_Aaaaand_, you have to admit that you were an asshole. Just for my laughing pleasure," I said.

"…."

"I guess I can't find it in my heart to forgive you," I said with mock sadness.

"_Fine._ I, Shikamaru Nara, admit that I was an asshole towards Ino Yamanaka-"

"-the most awesome girl in the world."

"What?"

"Say it."

"-towards Ino Yamanaka, the most awesome girl in the world. There. Happy?" he said.

"Yes," I said gleefully. "Hey, pick a color."

"Why?"

"Just cuz. You'll find out tomorrow."

"Yellow," he said after a while.

"Okay, thanks. Bye," I said, hanging up.

**********

Shikamaru and I were sitting down at the table for two outside the Starbucks café, enjoying the scenery and basking in the morning sunlight. I sucked the straw from my caramel macchiato frapaccino and wondered again why Shikamaru was staring intently at me. It made me feel self-conscious.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do I have something in my teeth, or… oh god, it's not another zit, is it?" I reached out to touch my face but Shikamaru gently pushed my hand down.

"No, I was just trying to find something yellow on you," he said. "But I can't."

"Oh, _that,_" I said, rolling my eyes. Then I stuck my hand out and fluttered my fingers in his direction. "Bam! Yellow nail polish. I was having a hard time choosing a color, so I asked you last night."

"I can't believe I helped a girl with styling advice," Shikamaru said. "I swore I wouldn't do it again after…"

"After what?" I asked curiously. It amazes me how little I seem to know about Shikamaru's personal life. I've been so clueless.

"Nothing, it's too troublesome to get into details about it. Some girls just aren't appreciative of a man's opinion and get so upset over it," he said, taking a sip of his iced vanilla mocha.

"Are you talking about your old girlfriend?" I asked.

"Yes. It's one of the reasons we broke up. We just weren't good together, we fought a lot. It was a very unhealthy relationship, although at the time I thought she was something special," he said with a faraway look in his eye.

"Was she…pretty?" I ventured to ask.

"No," he replied. This gave me pleasure to know. "Pretty doesn't seem to suit her. No, she was lovely and very sensual." My eyes widened, and there was a huge pang in my chest. Every time I tried to picture Shikamaru's ex, I'd always imagined someone highly unattractive and nerdy, not some girl with freakin' sex appeal.

"Oh," I said lamely.

"Can we change the subject?" Shikamaru asked. "It's just…I'm trying to forget what happened in the past."

"I understand." Not really. Who was she? What's her name? "Tomorrow's Saturday. We should do something fun. Like go bowling or go to the movies," I suggested.

"Can't. My dad's forcing me to mow the lawn and do some other crap," Shikamaru said. Am I…actually disappointed?

"'Umm, we should probably head to school now, don't you think?" I said.

"Sure," he said, standing up from his chair. He shielded his eyes from the harsh sunlight.

As we drove to school, I evaluated our previous conversation. It had been nice, until _she _was mentioned, and she'll always be referred to as _she_ unless I find out her name.

"Thinking hard or hardly thinking?" Shikamaru asked, interrupting me from my thoughts.

"The first one," I said.

"About…?"

"Nothing."

"Wow. So that's what goes on inside that bubblegum brain of yours. Oww!"

"You should keep your eyes on the road. My life, unfortunately, is in your hands," I said.

"You're advertising car safety now? You don't even have your seatbelt on." Shikamaru pointed out.

"It'll ruin my uniform," I protested.

"Put the seatbelt on. Our uniforms are already ugly enough so it doesn't make much of a difference," he said.

"I put a lot of effort into beautifying my uniform, thank you very much," I said as I put my seatbelt one. Then I rummaged through my bag until I found my lip gloss.

"Again?" He sounded incredulous.

"Yes, again. There. I'm all set to go to school," I informed him, smiling at my reflection.

"Ino, can I ask you something- and you won't get offended?" Shikamaru said. I nodded my head. "Why do girls care so much about their looks?" he asked.

"That's the _big mystery _isn't it? Well, it's mostly because we want to look good so we can attract guys' attention and hear nice comments about ourselves. Self-esteem plays a big part in all this. Girls just want to feel beautiful and have someone notice," I said.

"But why? Why do you feel the need to look good for us? Most of us don't care or don't even notice anyway," he said.

"You don't have to be so blunt about it," I said. "It's true- guys hardly notice anything. But when a girl finds the one guy who does, well, that's when she knows. All girls want attention because it makes us fell loved and special. Ugh. Why even bother to explain, you'll never understand."

"I think I'm starting to," Shikamaru said. "Is that why you stopped chasing after Sasuke? Because he wasn't noticing you?"

"Wh-What?" I was caught off-guard.

"It's still a touchy subject, isn't it? It's okay, we don't have to talk about it. But we do have to talk about us, because after what happened yesterday-"

"You mean the kiss? Look Shikamaru, I shouldn't have sprung that on you like that, but I don't regret it," I said, trying to put as much honesty in my voice. "Sometimes it's hard to control my feelings, and yesterday was one of those moments."

"We're _friends_, Ino. Friends don't go around kissing each other," Shikamaru said, finding a parking space.

"Well, maybe I don't want to be just friends," I said.

Shikamaru groaned, and just like a guy, he got out of the car and avoided the subject. By the time I entered the school, I was aware of the weird stares I was receiving. Some people even had the audacity to chuckle in front of me, and then pretend they didn't, even though I had just heard them.

I opened my locker to get my books when suddenly I felt a soft hand clasp onto my elbow. It was Hinata, gasping for air.

"There…you…are," she breathed out heavily.

"Hinata? What's the matter?" I asked.

"Look…there's something you should see," she said, taking out her cell phone. Her voice sounded on the edge, which only made me nervous.

"What is it? And why is everyone laughing at me?" I asked her.

"Because of this," Hinata said, handing me her cell phone. It was a Youtube video and the title was 'LOL- Crazy Girl gets too wild at Soccer Game.' Someone had recorded my kiss with Shikamaru. "And there's more," she said, clicking on another video.

It was strange seeing me kissing him. _Us _kissing. I mean, I was so intent on following through with it that I hardly noticed how Shikamaru had his hands on the small of my back. He was _holding _me! I guess that for a few seconds he was actually enjoying the kiss (not that he'll ever admit it).

"Ino, I know this is like the worst thing that could possibly happen-"

"What are you talking about? This is great!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah. This video is such a big hit, it already has 20,000 views. This could be my big break Hinata," I said excitedly.

"Have you completely lost it? On the face of Youtube you're known as some crazy girl with uncontrollable hormones," she said.

"Nuh-uh," I counteracted. "Stevie257rox says I'm one hot babe. Let's look at another video." I chose a different one and was horrified by the angle it was shot from. It made my ass look huge.

"So, uh, what did you two do on the ground?" Hinata asked.

"Nothing," I said. "Oh my god, why? Does it look like we did do something?" I replayed the video. The falling over, from an outsider's perspective, looked like a heavier continuation of the kissing, what with Shikamaru's knee bent up and my back arched in a very compromising pose. People's heads were in the way, and the recording wasn't spectacular, so it was hard to see what _exactly _happened after we fell to the ground.

"We didn't do anything, I swear," I said.

"It's alright. I believe you," Hinata said. "Oh, here comes Sakura." She knew as well.

"Why is it that I'm last to know?" I asked.

"Oh, that's because the video victim is _always _last to know of the video itself. It's one of life's mysteries," Sakura said. "Anyways, I'm already working on the damage control."

"Really. How is that going for you?" Hinata asked. "Because Ms. Princess over here just loves the attention she's getting."

"20,000 hits is a _big _deal," I said in my defense. "I can't help it if I've become a Youtube sensation overnight."

"Have you read some of the comments? People are calling you a slut," Sakura said.

"Wh-What?" I said.

"Yeah. That was a huge risk, kissing Shikamaru like that. I mean, damn, you must _really _like him to put yourself out like that. People are just mean and love to criticize other people, especially when they do something wild. But Ino, you are _not _a slut, ok?" she said.

"That's right," Hinata said.

"You gotta go and defend your honor and your dignity!" Sakura said fiercely.

"Yeah," Hinata said agreeing.

"You gotta go get your man and make it official that you have a boyfriend!"

"Uh-huh," Hinata said, then…"Wait, what? No, that's a bad idea."

"I think it's a great idea," I said. This is how I'm finally going to set my plan into full motions. This is my catalyst.

**********

Throughout the day, I kept receiving the stink eye from different people and by lunchtime, it just got worse. Oh, the woes of being Ino Yamanaka.

I was in the middle of stuffing my mouth with a turkey burger when Shikamaru rushed (Yes, that's right, _rushed. _For the first time in his life, he was actually in a hurry to get somewhere) over to my table. His stride was surprisingly quick and determined.

Sakura nudged me with her elbow. "Yeah, I know already," I told her. People sitting nearby were staring, for Shikamaru came and squatted down next to me.

"Ino," he whispered, "let's go take a walk outside." But his eyes said differently. He wanted more than to just take a walk outside.

"Sure," I said, standing up. I was finding it easier to just go along with Shikamaru than to argue uselessly with him.

Once outside at the courtyard, Shikamaru got down to business. "When were you going to tell me about the video? Or, more importantly, were you even going to tell me at all?"

"The idea _had _popped into my head. I swear I was going to wait until after school to tell you," I said. "I only found out myself this morning. And can you believe it? We're like Youtube superstars!"

"Wow. I think I actually saw an exclamation point above your head when you said that," he said. "You can't be seriously happy about all the gossip that's circulation because of all these videos."

"Wow, how did you find out? Because if I remember correctly, Mr. I have no social life, you don't listen to gossip. You absolutely hate it."

"I do. But Chouji told me about it second period," Shikamaru said. "See, now that's a _real _friend for you. Someone who has your best interests at heart."

I winced. Now brownie points for me then.

"Ino, what are we going to do about this?" he asked, crossing his arms. For once, he was giving me the opportunity to choose something.

"We need to set the record straight and tell everyone you're my boyfriend," I said. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and then started to chuckle, right in front of my face. I got the full effect, surround-sound of Shikamaru's amused laughter.

"You are such a guy," I informed him, a bit annoyed.

"Am I really? Hmm…I always wondered what that thing down there was," he said sarcastically. "But you, Ino, are a rare piece of work. Honestly, I've never met someone who can live such a topsy-turvy life where _no _somehow means _yes _all of a sudden."

"What's wrong with being my boyfriend? Most guys would feel honored," I said.

"In case you haven't noticed already, I'm _not _like most guys. In fact, I'm not like most people. I can stand to be alone. I don't need romance in my life, it's just too bothersome," Shikamaru said.

"Maybe if we give it a chance, I can prove you wrong. I can show you how beautiful and wonderful it is to be in a relationship. Being alone seems too horrible a fate, even for you," I said. He sighed and cast his eyes up at the clouds. "C'mon Shikamaru, what do you have to lose? And you have to admit that I'll make a great accessory for your arm."

He cracked a wry smile. "I'll think about it," he said mysteriously and then walked away. I was left in somewhat of a shock. Oh my god, my plan is actually working! That was a definite maybe, a possible yes. Not that I ever had a doubt about my genius scheme, but now everything seems to be going on track. Oh please, someone give me an Oscar!

************

Apparently Shikamaru needed the _whole _weekend to think about it. I stood listlessly by the phone, waiting for a call that never came. My mom teased me about it, telling me how dramatic I was being.

By Monday, I was growing worried. Then I heard the doorbell ring and dashed to answer it. There he was, sleepy-eyed with his uniform shirt unbuttoned at the top. "Hey, all set to go?" he asked, as if there was no impending question waiting for a response.

"Um, yeah. Bye mom!" I called out at I shut the door behind me.

"What, no heels today? That's a miracle," Shikamaru said.

"I've got cheerleading practice today after school," I replied. "I didn't want my feet to get tired beforehand."

"So, what do you guys do at practice? Just cheer and stuff?" Shikamaru asked.

"Is that what you think we do? Just _stuff?_ I'll have you know that we do a variety of different activities from dancing to tumbling to conditioning. We have to stay in perfect, physical form," I said proudly. "That's the only way you make it to the top."

"The top of what?"

The pyramid, of course. Jeez, you should see all this for yourself, then maybe you'd understand," I said. Then a light bulb went on in my head. "Hey, why don't you come and watch us practice? I think you'll find it to be an interesting experience."

"I'm not denying that it'll be interesting, but there is no way I'm going all by myself," Shikamaru said.

"Easy. Just get Chouji to tag along with you," I said.

"That's going to take some hard convincing. I 'm not even sure if I should go," he said.

"I thought you didn't care what people thought of you."

"I didn't. But I've been spending _waaay _too much time with you and I think your egocentrism has finally caught on," he said.

"Hehe, what can I say? I'm contagious," I said with a smile. "Just be at the gym by 3:30. It usually takes us that long to change and get ready."

Minutes later we were at school and once more we were both victims of the gossiping news. I distinctively heard one skeezebag say to his friend that Shikamaru and I were in a friends-with-benefits relationship. This just riled me up inside and reminded me that I had to hurry and get Shikamaru to be my boyfriend.

"Sasuke's absent again," Sakura sighed as we walked together to Chemistry.

"I hadn't noticed, but now that you mention it…he was gone on Friday too, wasn't he?" I said.

"Yeah. Ever since he performed badly at the soccer game, he's been absent from school," she said.

"He better hurry back," I said. In time for me to declare my relationship with Shikamaru. Then he'll realize his true feelings for me and fight for my heard. And years later, when our children are all grown up, we'll tell them our story. It'll be so romantic.

"Why?" Sakura said. It took me a moment to realize what she was asking.

"Oh, just cuz, you know, without him sitting in front of me in history, the teacher can totally see me texting. Sasuke makes a great shield," I said.

We entered the classroom and sat down in our assigned seats. I crossed my legs and fixed my skirt before taking paper out for notes. That's when I heard Naruto making smooching noises at me. I turned my head around and shot him a nasty glare.

"Quit it Naruto," I said.

"Oh, loosen up Ino, I'm just messing with you," he said. "But don't get mad at me- I brought our team to victory! Not that anyone videotaped _that._"

"What? Are you feeling sore that all your glory is lost to mine and Shikamaru's limelight?" I said.

"There's something I heard about you…what was it again? Oh yeah, _slut_. It's a sham that someone as cool as Shikamaru is being associated with you," Naruto said.

I gasped. "How dare-"

"No, how dare _you _pull a crazy stunt like that and right at the same time I make the winning goal," Naruto said.

"Aha! I knew it. You are mad because of that," I said. The tardy bell rang just then and the teacher began the class. All the while, I could hear Naruto muttering behind me, obviously still perturbed.

I texted Sakura, who replied that Naruto would get over it soon enough when it all died down. Either that or he'd forever hold a grudge against me. Whatever, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Although Hinata didn't think so.

"But Ino, if Naruto and I ever end up together, how will we be able to hang out with you if he hates you?" she said.

"Once I'm Sasuke's girlfriend all that will change," I said. Hinata's eyes widened.

"Shh! Sakura will hear you," she said, looking over her shoulder. But Sakura was busy talking to Fumiyo, a girl on my cheerleading squad. "You should've never told me about your stupid plan. I don't have any piece of mind anymore."

"Well, my mind is just fine. Quit worrying Hinata, you're too young to have frown lines," I said. Then I turned around to face Sakura and Fumiyo. "Ready for practice Fumi?" I asked her.

"Yup. I've been meaning to ask you this- are you going out with Shikamaru Nara?" Fumiyo said.

"Not yet," I said mischievously. "Shikamaru may be a genius but he lacks complete knowledge on romance."

"You should just ask him out yourself. This isn't the 18th century," she said.

"That's what I keep telling her," Sakura said.

"Well, shouldn't Ino just wait how it all turns out instead of _initiating _something that will probably never exist?" Hinata said, giving me a meaningful look.

"You've been spending too much time with your cousin Neji, haven't you? He's been brainwashing you with his 'destiny' crap. Waiting around never accomplished anything," I said. "Let's go Fumi, before Tsuchina yells at us for being late."

"Tell me about it. Just cuz she's captain she thinks she can be all high and mighty," Fumiyo said. We both said goodbye to Sakura and Hinata and headed towards the locker rooms. We changed into our practice clothes which for me consisted of purple cotton shorts and a pink tank top that showed off my midriff.

As Fumiyo and I entered the school gym, I spotted Shikamaru and Chouji sitting together on the bleachers, looking bored out of their minds. I gathered my hair into a ponytail and smiled at the both of them. Chouji waved at me before opening a bag of chips, while Shikamaru nodded his head towards me.

"That is so cute!" Mika said, stretching behind me. "How did you get him to come?"

"By using my super cool convincing skills," I replied.

"Ok girls, enough with the stretching. Let's start with some lifts," Tsuchina said. We all got into our formations and practiced lifting and catching each other. When my turn came in my group, they successfully lifted me up into the air and I executed an impressive kick before they caught me. I was all smiles, until Tsuchina pounced on me for no apparent reason, except that she is crazy.

"Kick higher next time," she said, then moved on to evaluate another group.

"I thought your kick was just fine," Mika said as she got ready to be lifted.

"Thanks," I said as our group lifter her into the air. We continued doing this for another ten minutes until Tsuchina stopped us.

"Good work girls. I definitely saw some improvements," she said. I swear she was only looking at me when she said that. "Break time!"

We all dispersed and I walked over to the vending machines in the gym and contemplated on what I could get with 50 cents. "Let me see…what do I want? Hmm…,"I said to myself.

"May I suggest something?" Shikamaru said from behind me. His voice made me jump.

"Ah, Shikamaru! You startled me," I said, ducking down to collect the coins I accidentally dropped.

"Sorry about that. I came to get Chouji some chips. He ran out of his already," Shikamaru said, helping me grab my fallen coins. "So…uh…practice seems good. Except for that Tsuchina girl."

"Yeah. She's a hell raiser, especially towards me," I sighed. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Really? But you were great up there, doing, you know, your cheerleading stuff," he said.

"I think I'll just get a Snickers bar," I said, pushing my coins into the slot.

"Did you hear me? I said you were great…why do you still look so upset?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know," I said, taking a bite from my chocolate bar. "It's just that I hear the same crap from Tsuchina all the time. _'C'mon Ino, you can do better! That last flip wasn't good enough! How disappointing!'_" I said, mimicking Tsuchina's voice.

"She sounds like a bitch," Shikamaru said bluntly. His statement made me smile- finally we have some common ground. We both dislike Tsuchina's bitchy attitude.

"Truer words have never been spoken," I said with a smirk and a pat on his back. I don't know how he felt about physical contact (the only type I'd given him before was the violent kind) but I was starting to realize that he was warming up to my touch more. Before, he'd stiffen up, but now he seemed more relax and comfortable with it. Our little moment was ruined by Tsuchina's haggard yells. Ugh.

"Break time's over!" she clapped. Thank god that she mysteriously lost her megaphone about a week ago (hehe).

"Well, I gotta go. And here comes the fun part- we practice with pop music," I said to Shikamaru. He groaned.

"I should've brought my headphones with me," he said, getting Chouji's chips and returning to the bleachers while I joined my group.

"Ino, I'd lay off the chocolate bars if I were you or soon you'll be too heavy to lift," Tsuchina said, considering me with her deep amber eyes. "Okay, give me twenty push-ups," she ordered, crossing her arms.

"What?" I said, incredulous. Everyone else had their eyes glued to the floor, clearly not wanting to be a part of this. "Why?"

"Because you're bulging out of your shorts." She demonstrated this by pinching the small amount of skin that was hanging out from my waistband line.

"Quit it Tsu!" Kim said. Finally someone was standing up for me.

"Quit what? I just want to make it perfectly clear that Konoha High will not have a fat cheerleader on the team," Tsuchina said.

"I am NOT fat," I said. "So what if I have a little bit of meat on me, eh?"

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot…Shikamaru likes them chunky, doesn't he?" she said with a devious chuckle.

I was about to lunge out at her, but several girls held me back. "Calm down Ino, she's just messing with you," Fumiyo said.

"You're right," I said, breaking free from their grasps. "She can't get to me. You hear that Tsuchina? You can't get to me. I am waaay above your childish schemes."

"Oh really? Well, if you really are above all this, let's have you be on top for today," she said.

Being on top of the pyramid was like the greatest honor. So I accepted, although my dumbass should've known better. This had 'sabotage' written all over it.

All the girls got into the pyramid formation, including Tsuchina who was in the second to top row. I breathed in and out, and sprinted towards them, jumping and flipping in midair and landing victoriously on Tsuchina's and Rei's backs. My moment was short lived as I felt an unstable support beneath me. I was wobbling and could feel myself fall…oh no, this was going to hurt…_a lot. _I let out a scream and braced myself for the impact.

Only it never came. Shikamaru had caught me in his arms and saved me from falling. I was sitting on the ground, my back supported by his raised knee.

"Shika…but h-how?" I said, still in a daze.

"I saw you were about to fall…and, I don't know, it was instinct. I just ran as fast as I could. Are you okay?" he asked, a little breathlessly.

"You…you saved me. My hero," I said, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek, but Shikamaru turned his head last second and I ended up accidentally kissing him on the lips. I thought he'd turn away like last time, but he didn't. Once more I got to experience the soft feel of his lips and, amazingly, this electric jolt passed throughout my entire body. I had never felt so alive.

I opened my eyes and started into Shikamaru's face. "I've thought about it long enough," he said. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused at what he was talking about. "And the answer is yes." I continued staring at him with confusion until it all clicked. Then I squealed and wrapped my arms around his neck, causing us to keel over to the ground.

"Get a room you two," I heard someone say.

***********

"I feel kinda bad ditching Chouji like that," Shikamaru said. We were at a sushi restaurant, celebrating our new one-hour long relationship. I had already called all my friends to tell them the wonderful news.

"He couldn't have tagged along. It's a date," I said. I had changed back into my uniform after practice, which was cut short because everyone gave Tsuchina the cold shoulder and wouldn't follow her directions after she almost killed me. Seriously. I could've broken my neck and that would've been the end of me.

"Ino, just because we're a couple now, you're not going to act all weird and gushy, are you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course not," I snorted. "And FYI, we're not going to be making out 24/7. I'm a respectable, decent girl who…why are you laughing?"

"Sorry," Shikamaru chortled. "Continue, please."

"As I was saying, I'm a girl full of self-respect and decency. I have an image to uphold, you know. As a cheerleader and a role model, I can't be seen making out like some hormone-crazed teenager, even with my boyfriend," I said.

Shikamaru clapped. "Bravo. You got your point across. But may I remind you that you're the one who's always initiating the kissing," he said.

"But you don't do anything to stop it, if my memory serves well," I said.

"I'm a red-blooded male, what do you expect me to do?" Shikamaru said. He had a point there.

We ate our meal and talked some more. Everything was so nice and real, I had to remind myself it was just all an act. But it didn't feel like it. I was enjoying myself way too much with Shikamaru for it to seem like an act. And when he brought me back home, I was a bit upset that our date was over.

"Goodnight Shikamaru," I said as we stood in front of my door. "I had a great time."

"Same here," he said. "Uh…this is starting to feel so cheesy. How about we just say goodbye and leave it at that?"

"Okay, then, goodbye," I said.

"Goodbye Ino. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, turning to go.

"Wait. Are you seriously going to leave like that?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Leave like what?" Shikamaru said.

"Without a goodnight kiss," I said. He sighed.

"I told you, I'm not the romantic type," he said.

"Well, I'm not the cold, unfeeling type," I responded back. We both stood there, each holding out ground. Finally Shikamaru leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"Sweet dreams Ino," he whispered into my ear and left. Just like that.

"What just happened?" I asked myself, touching the spot on my forehead that he had kissed. The act had been so unexpected…but so sweet. I leaned against the front door and just gazed up at the stars. Until my mom opened the door and I tumbled down inside the house.

"Ino! What were you doing out here?" she asked, not even concerned about my wellbeing. I stood up and fixed my skirt.

"I was just looking at the stars," I said. My mom looked at me weird.

"I never took you for the star-gazing type, except for maybe the Hollywood stars," she said. "Did Shikamaru bring you home?"

"Uh-huh," I said. "Is dad home yet?"

"Yes. He's in the living room watching TV," she said.

"Good. Then I can tell you that Shikamaru is my boyfriend," I whispered to her.

"Oh honey, that's wonderful news. How did it happen? I want to know everything," my mom said. She was ecstatic, although that might even be an understatement.

We went upstairs and sat down on my bed and I told her everything. "I don't want to tell dad just yet," I said to her.

"That's probably best. He'll overreact and do God knows what," my mom said. Then she hugged me. "Sweetie, I'm so happy for you. I know Shikamaru will treat you well and do nothing to hurt you. And you'll do the same, right?"

"Right," I said through a guilty mouth.

**********

The next day was like any other day- the sun was shining, the birds were chirping- except that Shikamaru and I arrived together at school, holding hands. The wind was truly magical and gave our hair a wind-swept look. As we strutted through the hallways, all eyes were on us and a few mouths were gaped open. I think some boys' hearts were left broken.

"Everyone is staring," Shikamaru said. We got to my locker where I took out my books.

"It's not everyday they see two attractive people holding hands together," I replied.

"You think I'm attractive?" Shikamaru asked with a raised brow. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Puh-leeze. Anyone who stands next to me looks five times better than they normally do. It's that 'glow' I cast on people," I said, closing my locker shut. "Here." I gave my books to Shikamaru. "Hold those while I put on my lip gloss."

"You still don't feel beautiful without your lip gloss do you," he said. It wasn't a question. "Personally, I don't favor shiny lips."

I laughed, unsure how to respond to that. Should I wipe my lip gloss off? Instead, I grabbed my books back from Shikamaru. "So, what time should I be at your house?" I asked. Earlier, he had told me on the drive to school that his mom wanted to celebrate our "union" by cooking a special dinner, to which I was invited. In fact, I was the special guest of honor. Shikamaru told me not to worry his mom wouldn't do anything embarrassing. Not that he could guarantee that.

"At about 5:30,' he said, picking up my free hand from where it laid by my side, as we continued walking. "My mom's going to make all your favorites. You still like crab cakes, don't you?"

"I love crab cakes. Mmmm…especially the way your mom makes them. Why do you think I hardly complained when my family went to your house during holidays?" I said.

"That's right, the one thing you did complain about was having to play with me," Shikamaru said.

"No hard feelings right? The past is in the past," I said.

"Right. Although looking back, it was funny how immature we behaved towards each other," he said with an amused smirk. I didn't see anything funny about it.

"Shikamaru! Ino!"

We both turned around to see Chouji, Sakura, and Hinata. "Congrats, you two!" Sakura said enthusiastically. Then she hugged Shikamaru, who for some reason, backed off from her awkwardly. He was trying to hide a blush.

"You okay dude?" Chouji said, giving him a _knowing _look. Shikamaru returned the look as well. Hmm…must be a weird guy thing.

"I guess you're not into hugging then," Sakura said, giving Shikamaru's elbow a friendly pat instead.

"Sakura, quit flirting with my boyfriend," I said teasingly.

"But he's just so adorable!" she said, pinching his cheek. We both laughed, although Shikamaru looked uncomfortable.

"Please don't touch me," he mumbled to Sakura.

"Oooh, he's blushing!" I said. Really, it's fun to mess with Shikamaru because he's usually so serious and put together.

"You two are annoying," he muttered. "Let's go Chouji, class is almost going to start anyway."

"I'll see you at lunch then!" I called out to his retreating back. Shikamaru didn't even turn around, he just gave me a back-of-the-hand wave. "Jeez, did he really get upset over that? We were just messing with him."

Hinata sighed. "You should get to know your boyfriend better Ino," she said. "Learn what gets him ticked off and what makes him happy."

"She's right. Shikamaru is a complicated guy," Sakura pointed out.

"And I'm not? Am I really that simple?" I asked.

"No, you're just simple to please," Hinata said. Then the school bell did ring and we split up to go to class.

I entered my first period class and noticed that Sasuke was back. He looked troubled and upset. I guess the soccer game really got to him.

"Hey," I said, taking my seat behind him. He gave me a weak wave of his hand and continued to brood. "Umm…You okay?" I ventured to ask him.

"No, I am most definitely not okay," he replied. "You can thank Shikamaru for that," he muttered darkly.

I blinked. "Shikamaru? Why, what did he do?" I asked. "Is it a soccer thing?" Maybe he's upset that Shikamaru got attention because of the video and he didn't. Just like Naruto.

"It's a guy thing," he said, as if because I was a girl, I wouldn't be able to understand.

"Wh-" But I got cut off by the teacher's demanding voice as she began her lesson. When class ended, Sasuke quickly darted out of the room.

I walked to my fashion class, which I had with both Sakura and Hinata. I told them what Sasuke had said. "What do you think he meant by that?" I asked them.

"It's probably for the lack of attention he's getting," Hinata said, cutting out pieces of fabric.

"That's what I was thinking," I said, then smiled. "But maybe it's because he's jealous. Ha!"

"Don't flatter yourself Ino. Sasuke is _not _jealous," Sakura said haughtily. I just looked at her.

"But _you _are, aren't you? Just the thought of it makes your blood boil, because even though you swore off to liking Sasuke, you _still _have feelings for him," I said.

"I only swore off him because he was ruining our friendship. And look at us! We're fighting because of him. I don't want that," she said, measuring out enough fabric for a shirt she was making. "And why are you so certain he's jealous? It shouldn't even matter anyway, you have a boyfriend."

"Y-You're right," I said, realizing how close I had been to exposing my true intentions. I caught Hinata's eye. She looked at me with disapproval and worry. "I have Shikamaru…who may not be a soccer star player, but who's been there for me a lot of times. He's saved my life _twice _now," I pointed out.

"Really?" Sakura asked, interested. "I know he caught you yesterday during practice, but when was the other time?" Oh crap. I forgot that I never told them about the horrible mishap at Tal's apartment. And I don't feel like describing how I was an ungrateful bitch towards Shikamaru.

"Uh…now that I think about it…it's only been once," I said. "Yeah, it's only been that one time yesterday."

"Anyway," Hinata said, seeming to believe me, "as a guy who's saved your life, you should treat Shikamaru kindly and not do _anything _to hurt him. He doesn't deserve it." Hinata truly has a gift. She can make anyone feel guilty and remorseful. Compared to the rest of us, she's a freakin' saint.

"Amen to that," I said, accidentally pricking my finger with the needle in my hand. "Ouch!"

When the lunch bell rang, we all hurried out of class. While we were walking towards the cafeteria, we noticed a large group of students surrounding what appeared to be a fight.

"Ugh…I can't seen anything!" Sakura complained, standing on her tiptoes.

"I wonder who's fighting," Hinata said, trying to peer over heads. I spotted Kiba among the group of people watching.

"Hey Kiba, do you know what's going on?" I asked.

"Oh wow, you should've seen it! It's fuckin' insane!" he said wildly. "Ok, lemme tell you how it all went down. So my homeboy Sasuke comes up to Shikamaru and demands to know what he's been doing with _his _woman. Then my brothah Shikamaru started defending _his _woman and, oh man, that's when the punching began. Excuse me, I gotta go back and see what's going on." So Kiba left, miraculously finding a spot back in the large group.

"Oh my god! They're fighting over me!" I said happily.

"Ino, no, this isn't something to be happy about. We should stop it," Hinata said. And because of her "gift" I felt compelled to do something to stop the fight.

"C'mon Sakura," I said, pulling her along with me towards the shouting mass of people. As I stepped into the middle of it all, I immediately saw a clenched fist fly past me, just a few inches from my face. Whoa. Kiba wasn't lying. This is insane.

Shikamaru and Sasuke were going at it relentlessly and violently. Naruto was trying to pull Sasuke off of Shikamaru, but failing hopelessly. Although Shikamaru was stuck in Sasuke's headlock, he was elbowing him on the side, trying to break free. It was horrific.

"Chouji! That's your best friend getting beat up over there! Aren't you gonna help him?" I said.

"I've known Shikamaru for years now and know when he's got his mind set. And believe me, he's got his mind set on kicking Sasuke's ass," Chouji said. "There's nothing I can do to stop him."

I rolled my eyes, watching as Shikamaru, having escaped Sasuke's headlock, banged Sasuke's head against the lockers. Holy shit! This was getting too violent.

"I told you…she doesn't want you…anymore!" Shikamaru said gruffly, enunciating each phrase with a bang. Sasuke, whose face was blotched with anger and pain, kicked Shikamaru away.

"You're nothing to her! Nothing," Sasuke said, his knees slightly bent in a signature fighting stance. He was ready for anything….and bleeding from his head. "I'll get her back…just like I almost did. _I'm _the one she really wants."

"Just shut up!" Shikamaru said.

"Ino, we've got to do something," Sakura said with urgency in her voice.

"I know, I know," I said. "You don't think they'd hit a girl if she were to get in between them to stop their fight, do you?" I didn't give her a chance to respond because I was already moving towards Shikamaru and Sasuke. I stepped in the middle of their fight, my arms outstretched in an attempt to distance them.

"Stop it! Just stop!" I yelled, looking them both fiercely in the eye.

"Ino, step away," Sasuke said, glaring daggers at his opponent.

"As if I would ever really hurt her," Shikamaru said, sounding offended. He sidestepped me and was about to lunge at Sasuke again, but Sakura grabbed his right arm and tried to pull him back.

"Please don't hurt him," she said to him. She too didn't want to see any further harm done to Sasuke. As for me, the whole appeal of watching two guys fight over me just went down the drain.

I grabbed Shikamaru's other arm and restrained him, meanwhile Naruto held Sasuke back. Everyone was quiet, although the tension was thick and heavy in the air.

Sasuke…be smart. Just turn around and leave things as they are," Sakura said in a shaky voice. There were tears in her eyes. "You can't change them."

And with those words being said, Sasuke finally calmed down a bit and shrugged Naruto viciously off him. With one last look at Shikamaru, he walked away, the crowd parting like the Red Sea to let him through. There was a silence that lingered in the air…

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**A/N: Please review!! We really like to hear your feedback on the story. And sorry for the really late update. Our laptop was having some problems and we weren't able to use it for almost two weeks. It was really horrible. So, to make it up to you--**

**Preview of the next chapter:**

"_**Well, I promised your mom you'd be home by eight," she said. **_

"_**I'll drive her then," Shikamaru offered.**_

"_**No! I mean, no, I will. You just stay here and keep your dad company and catch up on some father-son bonding. I'll drive Ino home," she said with a sweet smile. I knew something was up. And when I got in the car with her, I knew I was right.**_

"_**So, Ino, just between us girls, what were you two really doing upstairs?" she asked me. **_

"_**I told you. We were playing shogi," I said. Oh crap. Why are some moms so persistent?**_

"_**I just want you to know that since you're dating my son now, I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. Anything at all."**_

"_**Look Mrs. Nara, I can see where this is going, and honestly, Shikamaru is such an innocent. You don't have to worry about him," I said, wishing we could get to my house faster.**_

"_**Oh, I'm not. I'm worried about you," she said.**_

"_**Me? What for?"**_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews! We really appreciate them all. If you thought Ino's scheming was crazy before, just wait until you read this. **

**FYI, for all of you confused people, Shikamaru doesn't like Sakura in **_**that **_**way. The only reason he acted weird around her when she hugged him was because he was creeped out. If you remember from Ch.3 Ino told Shikamaru that Sakura was into him now. That was a lie of course, but he don't know that. So Shikamaru is under the wrong impression that Sakura was trying to be more that "friendly" when she hugged him. **

_**Previously on the last chapter:**_

"_**Stop it! Just stop!" I yelled, looking them both fiercely in the eye. **_

"_**Ino, step away," Sasuke said, glaring daggers at his opponent.**_

"_**As if I would ever really hurt her," Shikamaru said, sounding offended. He sidestepped me and was about to lunge at Sasuke again, but Sakura grabbed his right arm and tried to pull him back.**_

"_**Please don't hurt him," she said to him. She too didn't want to see any further harm done to Sasuke. As for me, the whole appeal of watching two guys fight over me just went down the drain.**_

_**I grabbed Shikamaru's other arm and restrained him, meanwhile Naruto held Sasuke back. Everyone was quiet, although the tension was thick and heavy in the air.**_

_**Sasuke…be smart. Just turn around and leave things as they are," Sakura said in a shaky voice. There were tears in her eyes. "You can't change them."**_

_**And with those words being said, Sasuke finally calmed down a bit and shrugged Naruto viciously off him. With one last look at Shikamaru, he walked away, the crowd parting like the Red Sea to let him through. There was a silence that lingered in the air…**_

_Faking It_

Chapter Five

The dinner at Shikamaru's house didn't go exactly as I had expected. For one thing, Shikamaru was sporting a wicked black eye. It had a devastatingly sexy effect on him. I mean, he got that black eye fighting for me- there is nothing sexier than that. Not that I told him that though.

And then there were his parents. Instead of celebrating our newly-founded relationship, they were arguing about their son.

"Suspension for the rest of the week?" Mrs. Nara exclaimed, tossing the salad with dressing. Thank god she wasn't chopping anything with a knife or I swear she would've stabbed Shikamaru with it. "Did that Uchiha boy get suspended as well?"

"Yes mother," Shikamaru said through gritted teeth. He was setting up the dining table while I helped Mrs. Nara in the kitchen. Her husband was in the family room, watching T.V., and putting his two cents in every now and then.

"Shikamaru, how disappointing son," he said.

"That's right. We did not raise you to conduct yourself in such an aggressive manner. I absolutely condone it," she said.

"No, I mean how disappointing of him to get hit by such a pampered, rich boy who's smaller than him," Mr. Nara said from his seat on the couch.

"Excuse me? You don't actually approve of it, do you?" Mrs. Nara asked him. He was going to respond but she came over to him, a cheese grater in her hand, and gave him a menacing stare. "Well, do you?"

Mr. Nara gave in to his wife, like he usually did. Maybe out of fear or…yup, definitely out of fear. She came back to the kitchen with a smug smile.

"Uh, I'm done mashing the potatoes," I told her. She looked at me and pinched my chin kindly.

"Oh, you're such a help, Ino, dear. Not like my lazyass of a son. Are you done yet Shikamaru?" she called out to him.

"I'm working on it!" he yelled back, muttering something that respectable young girls such as myself should not repeat.

"Ino, you're so thin these days. I'll have to change that," she said with a warm smile that made me wonder if it was true what Tsuchina had said. Maybe Shikamaru does like chunky girls. Maybe his ex-girlfriend was a bit on the pudgy side. Maybe I could afford to gain some weight.

I had to do a double-take on that last thought. Me- gain weight? And for some guy? Where is my head these days? Up in those clouds that Shikamaru likes so much to watch?

"Okay, I'm done now," Shikamaru said.

"Good, good. Here, take this to the table. Be careful, it's hot at the bottom," Mrs. Nara said, giving me the plate loaded with my favorite crab cakes. I walked towards the dining room, but Shikamaru intercepted me and took the plate away from me.

"Hey! Your mother told me t-"

"Yeah, but you're the guest. All you need to worry about is getting your butt on that seat and enjoying your meal," he said. He put the hot plate down on the center of the table. I stared shamelessly at his bruised eye. "What?" he said, kind of defensively.

"Nothing," I said. Then I surprised myself by standing close to him and reaching up on my tiptoes to kiss the skin surrounding his black eye. "Thank you," I whispered softly I tried to ignore the blush that was creeping up my face.

"Time to eat!" Mrs. Nara said, barging in. I quickly took a huge step away from Shikamaru and I noticed he did the same. "Where's your father? Is he still watching T.V.? Honey, get over here!"

"But the show jus-"

"_Now_!"

The T.V. was instantly turned off and Mr. Nara joined us at the table, a sour expression on his face. I sat down next to Shikamaru as Mrs. Nara poured freshly squeezed lemonade into my glass. I knew it was freshly squeezed because I was the one who had to squeeze those dozens of lemons.

"So, Ino, dear, tell me how this _all _began because you know I can never get a decent answer from my son," Mrs. Nara said. Then she stage whispered to me, "He is just like his father. They both need a strong woman to dictate their lives." And she winked at me.

"That's not true," Mr. Nara said, taking a bite of his crab cake.

"Oh really?" Mrs. Nara said skeptically. Shikamaru, probably used to their incessant bickering, rolled his eyes.

"We just let you think you dictate our lives in order to satisfy you. But in reality, we do what we want anyway," he said. "Right son?"

"Don't get me involved in this. I know better than to pick an argument with a woman, especially one like my mom," he said.

"Smart guy," I said to him.

"Oh, I've never heard such hypocrisy in this house! Shikamaru, did you not argue all the time with that girl Te-"

"Forget all that. It was such a long time ago anyway, and means nothing to me now," he said. This piqued my interest. Could that girl that Mrs. Nara mentioned (Te- something) possibly be Shikamaru's ex-girlfriend?"

"What girl?" I inquired further.

"Oh, she was just this girl that stayed-"

"She was nobody important," Shikamaru said, cutting off his mother again in mid-sentence.

"Well, I still want to know," I said.

"What I want to know is how did you end up saying yes to my son. You're a pretty girl Ino, you could've done much better. Not that I'm not happy for you, I am, but…," Mrs. Nara trailed off. "It's just a surprise, that's all. Neither of you had ever shown a real interest in the other."

I took a sip of the lemonade I made, my mouth suddenly dry. This is why I hate questions. I mean, I love asking them, just not answering them.

"Umm…." I could feel all three pair of eyes on me. "Let's just say that I found my knight in shining armor. Right Shika?" I dazzled him with my smile.

"If you say so," he muttered.

"He's so modest," I said, then told them how Shikamaru had saved my life during cheerleading practice and how he had defended me in front of Sasuke. "Your son is very noble," I finished saying. And it was true.

FLASHBACK:

_Once Sasuke left, everyone else cleared away as well, chattering about how awesome the fight had been. Only Sakura, Hinata, Chouji, and I stayed behind with Shikamaru. His eye looked awful and he was spitting out blood._

"_Are you okay?" Hinata asked him. I should've been asking him that, but I was left speechless. _

"_Me? I'm alright. Just a few bruises. I'm not too sure about Sasuke though," Shikamaru said with a sardonic smile. _

"_Yeah, he didn't look so tough back there," Chouji said. _

"_Shikamaru, shouldn't you leave before the school security comes? You'll be in trouble," Sakura said._

"_I'm staying right here. I'm going to get called in anyway, whether they find me here or not," he replied. _

"_What are you going to tell them?" she asked._

"_The truth. I'm not much of a liar. I'll just say that Sasuke provoked me and in return I smashed his head against the lockers."_

"_But you'll get suspended!" Hinata said._

"_I've got to take the consequences of my actions," he said. I was impressed._

END OF FLASHBACK

"Violence is never the answer," Mrs. Nara preached. "Now, who's ready for dessert? I made blueberry cobbler."

After dessert, Mr. Nara went back to watching T.V. while Mrs. Nara cleared away the table and washed the dishes. Shikamaru went upstairs to his room and I followed him. It's not like I've never been there before (when we were younger, he used to kick me out of there, but then I'd cry because I wanted to play videogames with Chouji and him. His dad made them play with me, and he'd complain of my lack of videogame skills- then sulk when I did beat him) but this was the first time we were alone.

His room was clean, but on the verge of messiness. For one thing, his bed was still unmade. At least the floor wasn't cluttered with dirty clothes or what-not. Still, I didn't want to sit on the floor or on the bed, so I opted for his computer chair. I spun around a few times, looking around his room for any noticeable changes since the last time I had been there.

I felt a hand on the back of the chair and I abruptly stopped spinning. I was facing Shikamaru. "Wanna play shogi?" he asked. I laughed.

"You know I'm not very good. It's not fun playing when you always lose," I said.

"That's because you've never been properly taught before. Here, I'll teach you," he said. The thought of playing shogi wasn't really exciting, but I agreed anyways.

"Fine. Teach me all your trade secrets, Master," I said.

Twenty minutes later and I was finally getting the hang of the game, although Shikamaru had five of my pieces already while I had none of his. He made his move and I looked expectantly up at him for help. If he was frustrated with me, he didn't show it.

"Okay, you can move your piece here, here, or here," he said, pointing to different spaces. I nodded my head in understanding.

"I know that. But which move will make me win? Or at least make me get one of your pieces?" I asked him. "I'm not like you. I can't think two or three steps in advance."

"Let's try a different approach, then. I'll try to get a perspective of things from your side and guide you through the game. Maybe then you'll start to embrace the world of strategizing," Shikamaru said. He stood up from his cross-legged position on the floor and sat down next to me. He observed the board for a few minutes. I placed my fingers on top of my piece, ready for instruction.

"Okay, where do I go from here?" I asked, turning my head to face him. He was so close to me that I could count every one of his eyelashes. Then he raised his eyes to look at me and I almost stopped breathing. He gently placed his hand on top of mine and guided my piece to an empty space. I can't explain why my heart beat so fast, but it did.

"B-But that didn't do anything," I said. Inside I was doing everything possible to regain my normal heartbeat.

"Not yet it didn't. Just wait Ino. This game requires patience," Shikamaru said. He stared intently at the game board before making one of his pieces. "Your turn."

My previous move achieved nothing…or so I thought. I realized that now I could move my piece two spaces to the right and capture one of Shikamaru's pieces. "Yeah," I said. I turned to face him. "Oh my god, did you see that? I totally just took one of your pieces. Ha!"

"Don't celebrate just yet. The game still isn't over," Shikamaru said, going back to his regular spot. We continued playing until we heard Mrs. Nara call our names.

"What were you two doing up there?" she asked as we came down the stairs. Her arms were folded over her chest and she looked suspicious. All moms are the same in that aspect. Leave two teenagers alone in a room together and they immediately think the worse. Pch.

"Nothing," Shikamaru replied.

"Just playing shogi," I said.

"So then it _was_ something," she said through slit eyes. Then she turned towards me. "Ino, it's time you went home. Unlike my son, you have school tomorrow and it's getting late."

"It's barely 7:30," I said, checking the time on my phone.

"Right. It's almost your bedtime," Mrs. Nara said.

"Like ten years ago," I said. Shikamaru snorted.

"Well, I promised your mom you'd be home by eight," she said.

"I'll drive her then," Shikamaru offered.

"No! I mean, no, I will. You just stay here and keep your dad company and catch up on some father-son bonding. I'll drive Ino home," she said with a sweet smile. I knew something was up. And when I got in the car with her, I knew I was right.

"So, Ino, just between us girls, what were you two really doing upstairs?" she asked me.

"I told you. We were playing shogi," I said. Oh crap. Why are some moms so persistent?

"I just want you to know that since you're dating my son now, I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. Anything at all."

"Look Mrs. Nara, I can see where this is going, and honestly, Shikamaru is such an innocent. You don't have to worry about him," I said, wishing we could get to my house faster.

"Oh, I'm not. I'm worried about you," she said.

"Me? What for?"

"Because you're so fun spirited and carefree. I don't want you to be disappointed when you find out that Shikamaru is…well…he isn't," Mrs. Nara said.

"I already know he's a lazy bum," I said.

"Yes, but you've had more social experience than him. Honestly, I don't think Shikamaru's even kissed a girl before," she said with an amused chuckle. That's when I _knew. _Neither of his parents knew that he had had a girlfriend. Why so secretive?

"Anyway, since you're his first girlfriend, I'm sure he is curious and wants to do things he's never done before. Don't let him get away with it," she said. "I know you've had boyfriends before and your mom probably already told you this, but just because you're more experienced with the opposite sex, it doesn't mean you should let Shikamaru catch up-"

"W-Wait. Do you…are you saying…I'm not trying to seduce your son, I swear," I said, my face flushing with embarrassment.

"Good. Shikamaru _is _an innocent, like you said, and I want to keep it that way. You see, he's an intelligent young man and should focus on his academics and future potential," Mrs. Nara said.

"Are you saying I'm a distraction?" I asked.

"Oh sweetie, I don't want to upset you. That's not my intention, but he's already gotten suspended only a day after going out with you. What I'm really trying to say is that I'm worried you'll influence Shikamaru to do things he normally wouldn't do. Do you understand?" she said, giving my hand a motherly pat.

"I think so," I said, grateful that we were almost at my house so I could be done with this awkward conversation. Apparently Mrs. Nara is a dictator in her household (whatever she says goes) but she can't dictate my life. Besides, I'm a good influence on people. I'm a cheerleader for god sake.

"And then she had the audacity to say that I somehow influenced Shikamaru to fight with Sasuke, like the whole thing was my fault," I told Sakura and Hinata the next day at lunch.

"Oh my, that is harsh," Hinata said.

"What a bitch," Sakura said, then she looked at us. "Well, you both were thinking it too. Someone had to say it."

"You're right. She is a bitch. Yet again, she did give birth to Shikamaru," I said. They nodded in agreement. "The thing is, everyone thinks I'm his first girlfriend, but I'm not."

Sakura almost choked on her breadstick. "Wh-What? He's had another girlfriend before?"

"Yeah. I don't know who she is though," I said.

"Don't get all jealous over that. She's out of his life now and you're on center stage," she said.

I noticed that Hinata was scanning around the cafeteria, most likely searching for a certain blue-eyed blonde. "You know, he's wearing a bright orange beanie today. He shouldn't be _that _hard to spot," I told her. She jumped a bit, surprised to having been discovered.

"Was it that obvious?" she asked.

"Totally," Sakura said. Then she pointed to her left. "He's over there."

Hinata turned her head and blushed. "He's looking at me!" she squeaked. She tried fixing her hair.

"Well of course. Without Sasuke, he can finally pay attention to other important things," I said. "You should wave at him."

"Umm…no, I shoul-"

Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and lifted it in a wide wave. Naruto waved back and winked. And ruined the cute little moment by taking a huge bite out of his corndog. He then proceeded to chew…with his mouth open.

"Gross! I really don't get what you see in him," I said.

"I could say the same about you and Shikamaru," Hinata said. That shut me up. But I waited until the last period of the day when I could kick the back of her chair in math class. Hehe.

"Really? You're doing that again?" she asked, annoyed.

"Ow, not anymore. That hurt my big toe," I said.

"Good," Hinata said, sounding pleased. "Maybe now you've learned your lesson."

"Yeah. Never kick a chair while wearing open-toed pumps," I said, rubbing my big toe. Hinata rolled her eyes.

"I suppose you're going to gloat at how magnificently your plan is working out," she said.

"Do you know how crazy that fight was? And it was over _me_," I said. "When Sasuke comes back to school on Monday, he'll probably confess his love for me and-"

"And you'll dump Shikamaru?" Hinata said. "Just like last month's worn out shoes? Do you have any idea how that'll make him feel?"

"Hinata….you suck," I said, slumping down in my seat.

"Only because you know I'm right. How are you going to play him like that?" she said.

"I…can't." The thought of hurting Shikamaru was sad, especially because I think he's become a real friend to me. It's so easy to goof off around him and yet we can still have our serious moments. "Unless I make him want to break up with me." The idea just popped into my head, so suddenly.

"What? You can't be serious. You're going to sabotage your own relationship?" Hinata said.

"I'll just annoy Shikamaru until he won't be able to stand me anymore and he'll want to dump me. That way he won't feel hurt," I said.

"And you?" she asked.

"I'll have Sasuke. That should be enough," I replied.

"You don't sound too sure," Hinata said. "And you just can't assume that Sasuke is going to ask you out when you're free of Shikamaru because when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Hinata, I love you and all, but that line is so overrated. I'm not assuming, I'm just predicting what's going to happen in the future. There's a big difference between the two," I said.

"Miss Yamanaka! Since you don't mind talking, then you won't mid explaining to the class how to find the parabola of the equation," the teacher said, calling me out. Damn. I wasn't even paying attention.

"Umm…the parabola…um…is…is…that upside down u-thingie, right?" I said in my moment in the spotlight of humiliation. Now I sound like an idiot who doesn't know anything.

When I failed to give an answer, the teacher reprimanded me and told me I had to stay in after class for fifteen minutes. I was lucky I didn't get detention. That would've been horrible.

So fifteen minutes after three I was alone walking in the hallways. I was prepared to walk home, but I saw a familiar car parked outside the school and a familiar person standing in front of it, a bored expression on his face.

"Shikamaru, wh-what are you doing here?" I asked. The school parking lot was almost empty by now.

"I came to pick you up. I knew you'd be wearing some high-heeled monstrosity that was not made for comfortable walking" he said, leaning against the hood of his car with his foot propped up on the bumper and his arms crossed. With his black eye and wife beater shirt, Shikamaru looked like a total badass.

"You know , for being a guy, you care way too much about my feet," I said. "So you actually waited for me?"

"Yeah, if me standing here is not evidence enough, then I don't know what else is," he said.

"How do you know I hadn't gotten a ride from someone else or something? Then you would've been waiting for no one," I said.

"I saw Hinata and she told me you had to stay in late after class," he said. Oh. "Apparently you were talking too much."

"Well, it's not my fault that everyone else is so quiet and focused on the teacher. I'm like _this _close to failing that class, and if I do, it'll be the end of cheerleading for me," I said. "Hey, you're a super genius, right?"

"So I've been told," Shikamaru said.

"Then can you tutor me in math? Pretty please? You're my boyfriend, so you have to say yes anyway," I said.

As we were driving to my house, I contemplated about my plan. How does one go about annoying her boyfriend? I guess a reckless idea calls for reckless behavior. I suddenly grabbed the steering wheel from Shikamaru.

"Ino, hey-"

"Sorry, but we're going on a little detour," I said. I maneuvered the steering wheel as best as I could without killing us and pushed Shikamaru against the door as I swiftly slid my foot on the brake.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" I said as I parked crookedly. We were outside the town's public park.

"God, Ino, do you know how incredibly stupid and dangerous that was of you?" Shikamaru said, running his hands through his hair. It left his ponytail askew.

"Jeez you old worrywart, nothing happened," I said, removing my seatbelt and opening my car door. "C'mon!"

"Are you even listening to me?" he said.

"Not really," I said, ready to get out, but he held me back in. "Ow, Shika! You're hurting me!"

"No I'm not. I'm barely touching you," he said. Okay, so he wasn't really hurting me, but whining is an annoying characteristic I've got mastered down.

"Why here?" he asked, nodding towards the general direction of the park.

"Because…don't you just do things for the fun of it? Look, there's the playground. We should go over there and not act our age for once," I said.

"Just for the fun of it, eh?" Shikamaru said.

"Yes," I said, tugging on his sleeve. "Now let's go. I'll race you to the swings!" I said, already heading out the car.

"Oh, you're on Yamanaka," he said, not wasting a second as he followed after me. I had to take off my heels, which were slowing me down. Shikamaru passed me and I shucked one of my shoes at him, which hit him straight in the butt. Hehe. We reached the swings at the same time, slightly out of breath.

I laughed and kicked my feet in the air to gain momentum. This took a short while. I was finally swinging high, then I noticed that Shikamaru was still not moving.

"You're suppose to lean back a bit and kick your feet. Like this." I demonstrated to him. The wind was in my face and the sun seemed in my reach.

"I know how to swing," Shikamaru said, looking at me with his dark, shadowed eyes.

"Then why aren't you doing it?" I asked him. "Are you worried that you're gonna break it?'

"No, it's not that. I was just reminiscing," he said.

"About what?" I asked, swinging back and forth. Shikamaru stood up and moved a safe distance in front of me.

"This is how I first saw you, all those years ago. Back then you were just a blonde little girl who was laughing and having so much fun. I'll admit that I was kinda envious of you because of that, which is why I wanted to take your swing away. Although you wouldn't let me," he said with a tiny smirk. I slowed down.

"I didn't know you, but I remember thinking that you could really fly," Shikamaru said. "You just seemed so in your element, so self assured, so confident. To be honest, I never really hated you. It was fun to tease you, though. It still is, actually."

Now I had completely stopped and we just looked at each other. Why is he telling me all these things? I dimly realized that I was shoeless and the tanbark was scratching my bare feet.

"You're exactly the same Ino. You haven't changed. You're still the same laughing and fun-loving girl I met," he said standing _right _in front of me. I had to tilt my head back to see his face. There was something in his gaze, something so raw and intense that made my cheeks blush in weakness.

"I'm not a little girl anymore," I managed to say, standing up from the swing. The way he looked at me made me feel that he was very aware of that himself. He leaned his head closer to mine and it was as if he had his own gravitational pull because I could feel my head move closer towards his. We were about to kiss, I knew it, even as both our eyes closed of their own will, but I couldn't allow myself to do it.

Sure, I had kissed Shikamaru before, but this felt different. I knew that once our lips touched, I would totally enjoy it and want it never to stop. Then I'd be addicted for good. I couldn't do that to myself. Especially since I don't like Shikamaru like _that._

Jeez, a guy says some sweet words and I'm like play-doh in his hands. C'mon Ino, get a back bone!

I pulled away from Shikamaru and offered him a playful smile before I kicked tanbark at him. He was surprised, then quickly bent down to grab tanbark.

"Oh no you're not," I said, backing away from him. He threw it at me. I could feel tanbark getting stuck in my hair and some of it went down my shirt. "This means war!" And so commenced our tanbark fight. I'm sure people passing by gave us weird looks but it didn't matter.

A few minutes later, we both sat down in one of the park benches, exhausted. Shikamaru took one glance at me and busted out laughing. "You should see yourself. It looks like a bird's nest landed on your head," he said. I joined in his laughter.

"That was fun," I said after a while.

"Yeah, it was. I haven't had this much fun in a long time," he said.

"Stick with me kid, and you won't regret it," I said, removing some tanbark from my hair. It was useless without a mirror. "Ugh. Having fun has its price, though."

"Let me help with that," Shikamaru said, taking several pieces of tanbark off my head. His fingers grazed my cheek.

"Um, Shika…can I ask you something?"

"Yes. And that's all the questions I'll be answering for today," he said with a sarcastic smile.

"Har-Har. Anyway, I was wondering…why _did _you fight with Sasuke?" I had to hear it from him. I had to get the real story. "Was it because of me?" I asked.

"Something like that," he said, staring ahead. How allusive. That tells me nothing.

"I mean, did Sasuke instigate it, or-"

"He threw the first punch, yes. Did I taunt him to do it? Yes," he said, still not looking at me. "Sasuke was under the false impression that, despite you being my girlfriend, he had some sort of ownership over you. He referred to you as _his _girl."

"That's completely sexist! I am not a piece of property, nor am I anybody's _girl._ So, what did you tell him?"

Shikamaru's ears turned bright red. "Uh…I told him you were _my _girl," he mumbled quietly.

"Oh," I said, embarrassed. "I didn't mean it like a bad thing. Some girls like having an overprotective boyfriend. I just…enjoy asserting my independence."

"I get it. You don't want to be known as Shikamaru Nara's girlfriend," he said.

"Exactly! No, wait, that didn't come out right. I just meant that I hate being referred to as anything else but my name," I said. Time for a quick recovery. "That was sweet of you, though, to defend me."

"I didn't do it to be sweet," he said.

"I know. But you definitely left an impression on me anyway," I said, tracing the outline of his black eye. "Does it hurt? And please don't give me the macho man response."

"It stings a bit," he replied. "I put some ointment on it last night. Correction: my mom put some ointment on it last night."

"Your mother is a real work of art," I muttered, remembering our conversation. "So, what have you been up to? Being suspended gives you a lot of free time."

"It's given me some time to catch up on my sleep," Shikamaru said. Just then his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, grunted, and answered it. "What do you want?" he said. There was yelling on the other line. It was loud enough that I could hear every word.

"Shikamaru! Where are you? You're suppose to be grounded!" Mrs. Nara said. Shikamaru had to pull his phone away from his ear, it was _that _loud. "I checked in your room and you weren't there!" she exclaimed.

"Mom, what did I say about going into my room? Jeez, you never respect my privacy," he said.

"And it's a good thing I went in there because your dirty laundry was still on the floor," Mrs. Nara said from the other line. "I picked everything up though. I can't stand to have a filthy house."

"Your mom cleans your room?" I asked Shikamaru. "It was so clean yesterday."

"Yeah, well, who do you think keeps it that way?" he said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"All I'm saying is that's a little disgusting habit you've got," I said.

"Shikamaru? Who's that with you? I heard a voice," Mrs. Nara said. I immediately shut up.

"It's…no one," Shikamaru said. "Just stop yelling, okay? I think my eardrums have suffered enough."

"Come here NOW! What part of being grounded don't you get? Where are you anyway?" she asked. "How'd you even get out of the house?" She was in histrionics.

"Easy. I was abducted by aliens," Shikamaru deadpanned.

"Don't sass me boy," she said. "I want you home in ten minutes. Do you hear me?"

How could he not? She was being so loud.

Shikamaru hung up the phone and let out a sigh. "I guess you have to leave," I said.

"Yeah," he said.

"How _did _you get out of the house?" I asked him curiously.

"Through the window. What? You didn't think I was athletic enough to jump out of a two-story house?" Shikamaru said.

"No. I just didn't think you'd ever be that motivated…or that stupid. You could've landed on your head or broken a bone," I pointed out.

"I could've. But I didn't. And that's what really matter," he said, taking a hold of my hand and pulling me with him towards his car. I stopped briefly to pick up my shoes, and together we left the park and those happy-filled moments of pure childish fun.

When we got to my house, I hastily checked my reflection in my compact mirror, making sure I didn't look like a complete mess. "Thanks Shika, but what about my tutoring lesson?" I said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll meet you here at your house tomorrow," he said.

"But you're grounded," I replied lamely. He smiled at me.

"I'll be here Ino," he said, so self-assured and confident. He had something planned.

The next day was a blur. At school I managed to take notes in class and somewhat listen (which was better than my usual no-listening at all) to my teachers. There was a buzzing in my ears, the kind you get from anticipation. Yes, I was actually excited to see Shikamaru after school, mostly to witness the drama unfold. How would he get out of his house undetected? Would his mom bitch at him some more? And more importantly, would he _really _help me pass math? Even I was smart enough to know the impossibility of it.

"Look Ino, this color looks good amazing on your skin," Sakura said, holding a lavender-colored fabric up to my arm. We were in fashion class.

"It does look pretty," I admitted, admiring the soft fabric.

"You should make a dress out of it…..actually leave it to me. I'll make it for you," Sakura said with a smile.

"Sak, no, that's asking for too much-"

"No, no I want to do it. Besides, _someone's _birthday is coming up in a few weeks," she said mischievously.

"That's right. You're turning seventeen. Oh, I hate being the youngest," Hinata said. Her birthday isn't until December.

"Is the wittle baby upset?' I teased, pinching her cheeks. We both laughed.

"Well, this baby is almost finished with her shirt. What do you think?" Hinata asked, showing us her handiwork.

"Amazing," Sakura said, touching the butterfly sleeves. "Your stitching is super tiny. Yo can't even see it."

"Wow Hinata, you've outdone yourself. This shirt looks like something that a designer would make. But yours is obviously much better," I said, smiling.

"Thanks guys," Hinata said with a beaming face. Then she went back to work, determined to finish before the bell rang.

When school finally did end, I waited for my mother to pick me up and drive me home. Except, she had her own agenda to take care of.

"Oh Ino, I almost forgot that we're all out of bread. We'll just make a quick stop at the grocery store," she said.

"But…can't you just drop me off at home and the go buy bread?" I suggested.

"And waste gas? I'm not made out of money," she said. I sighed. Oh well, I guess Shikamaru is going to have to wait for a while.

Twenty long-ass minutes later and we were carrying bags inside the house. "I thought we just went to get bread and we come back with half the store," I said, dropping the plastic bags on the kitchen counter.

"Well, everything was on discount. Fifteen cents per pound on asparagus! What a deal," mom said.

"Ugh. I don't even like asparagus," I commented. I grabbed a dog biscuit and gave it to Tracy, who quickly gobbled it down in her mouth. I gave her another one.

"Ino, don't give her too much of those. They're suppose to be a snack," she said.

"But Tracy is hungry," I said, patting her head. She raised herself on her hind legs and slobbered all over my uniform shirt. Ugh, gross.

"Go upstairs and change," my mom said. She didn't have to tell me twice. I took the steps two at a time, unbuttoning my shirt along the way. Eww, it had Tracy's saliva all over it. I discarded the shirt in the bathroom hamper and entered my room to find something clean to change into.

I let out a scream and immediately tried to cover myself with my arms. Standing by my bedroom window was none other than Shikamaru, with a very embarrassed look on his face.

"Ino? What's wrong? Why'd you scream?" my mom asked from the bottom of the staircase.

"N-Nothing. I just thought I saw a spider," I said, finding my voice after the initial shock. Very carefully, with one arm still covering my bra-clad chest, I closed my door. I turned to face Shikamaru. "What the hell are you doing here?" I whispered to him. "Nevermind. Don't answer that. Just…just close your eyes and turn around. You better not peek or I'll….I'll…"

"Scream again?" he said.

"Yes. Now turn around," I ordered. He did. I walked over to my closet and grabbed the first shirt I saw. I quickly put it on. "Okay, you can look now." He turned around and my fist made contact with his face. Bam!

"Ungh! God, Ino, I almost forgot how hard you could hit," Shikamaru said, rubbing his nose.

"I was trying to aim for your eye, so you could have a matching pair of black eyes," I said. "By you're so damn tall- it was out of my reach. So, are you still seeing stars?"

"This isn't a cartoon," he said.

"Right. Maybe if I had gotten your other eye, you'd be temporarily blinded and wouldn't be able to see _anything _at all, you perv," I said, throwing a pillow at him. He dodged it.

"Hey, I didn't come here for….that. I just wanted to get out of my house and away from my mother. That woman drives me crazy. And also because my girlfriend is a little slow when it comes to math," Shikamaru said.

Girlfriend? Who's th- oh, right, that's me. I almost forgot.

"Couldn't you have used the door like a normal person?" I asked, gathering my hair into a ponytail.

"Your mother would've seen me and gossiped about it to my mother," Shikamaru said, slowly easing himself down onto my bed. "Why is everything purple? Purple walls, purple bed sheets, even purple carpet."

"Purple's my favorite color, duh. So, if you're here, won't your mother realize you're gone anyway? Your plan for secrecy wasn't going to work. Heh," I said, sitting down next to him. "I guess you're not as smart as you think you are."

"Au contraire," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "Chouji owed me a favor from a long time ago. So I asked him to stay home in my place while I was here. I said I'd call him every twenty minutes to see how everything was going."

Maybe I am influencing him…Shikamaru would never have done something like this before. Yet, I'm impressed. He _needs _to get a backbone against his mom.

"Okay evil genius, you stay here while I get my bag. I left it downstairs," I said, leaving my room. I walked downstairs to the living room where I had haphazardly thrown my school bag on the couch. Then I made a quick trip to the kitchen where I got two plates, two apples, a jar of peanut butter, a knife, and two water bottles. I had to be extra sneaky because my mom was in the living room, just a few feet away, watching her cheesy soap operas. She was totally engrossed in the main characters' passionate confessions.

"I'm baaack," I sang, dumping everything onto my bed. "And I brought brain food too."

"Let's get started then. I have a feeling this is going to take a looong time," Shikamaru said.

"Your lack of confidence in me is very annoying," I said, pouting my lips.

"I'm not denying your potential. You're just easily distracted," he said.

"No I'm not," I said. "Okay Mr. Genius, let's do this." I opened my binder and selected a few questions that I needed help with.

Shikamaru was very patient with me, especially since I asked him to repeat a few questions until it finally stuck.

I had read in a magazine once that it was best to listen to classical music when studying because it helped you soak in more information. I didn't have any classical music, so I played my yoga music instead. The sounds of the ocean were very calming. Shikamaru didn't think so, though.

"This is suppose to help?" he asked skeptically.

"It soothes my mind. Okay, on to the next question." I yawned.

"The music is making you sleepy," he pointed out. I rested my head on my pillow and fought to keep my eyes open. Oh my god, I am turning into Shikamaru! He is suppose to be the tired, sleepy one- not me.

"Shika….let's take a break…okay?" I murmured, my eyes drooping dangerously down. Nooo. Why can't I stay awake?

"Ino. C'mon, no break time," Shikamaru said, nudging me. But he was yawning as well. "Damn music. I'd turn it off, but I don't want to get up."

"Lazy," I said, then laughed.

"What's so funny?" he asked, joining me in my pillow heaven, his head propped up by his elbow.

"I'm becoming like you. Oh, it's hilarious," I said. "We'll be the couple that sleeps by day and parties all night."

Shikamaru looked down at me, his eyes ever so alert. There was warmth radiating from his body onto mine. His tall frame surrounded my smaller one, encompassing me in his scent. I breathed him in, a combination of clove and freshly cut grass.

"You're not going to fall asleep on me, are you?" he said. I snorted, opened my eyes and gave him a wet, playful kiss on the cheek.

"Hahaha. If I fell asleep, who knows what kinds of things you'd do to an innocent girl like me," I said.

"Like these kinds of things?" he said, cupping my chin and leaning his face closer towards mine until our lips touched. I was hit by a sudden bolt of electricity, a sharp explosion that ripped my nerves open. I could feel his tongue rubbing against my tongue. His hands slowly traced the outline of my arms until they found my hands and interlaced our fingers together.

I had never been kissed like that before, and I was surprised to find out how much I was enjoying it. Where did Shikamaru learn to kiss like that? Oh, who cares, I'll save thinking for later.

I broke my hands free from his and wrapped them around his neck. Our legs were a tangles mess and, for all I know, we might've been just one person from the way our hearts beat in sync.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

_And I'm all in, nothing left to hide_

_I'm falling harder than a landslide_

Huh? That's not…

"My phone," Shikamaru grumbled, parting his lips from mine. He reached into his pockets and flipped open his cell phone, "Hello? Chouji?"

Ungh, _Chouji_. What bad timing.

I sat up and tried to get some oxygen into my lungs.

"Whoa, Chouji, okay, say that again…and slow down. I can't understand you," Shikamaru said.

"Well, I guess I must've fallen asleep or something, probably from lack of food…oh, I'm so hungry…all I remember is waking up to a loud hammering noise. Shikamaru, your mother is crazy! She hired some guys to install metal bars outside your window!" Chouji exclaimed from the other line.

"What?" Shikamaru and I said in unison.

"Anyway, now I knew I was trapped because your mom had locked the door. Oh man, I panicked."

"Cho, what happened? What did you do?" Shikamaru asked. I rested my chin on his shoulder, trying to hear the conversation from the other line. Damn. Talk about drama.

"Well, uh, you see…I got stuck in the air vent! I need reinforcement, I need food! Ugh, and it smells like something died in here…oh, I think something _did _die…oh, god!" Chouji wailed.

"Hahahahahaha!" I laughed, falling over to my side. This was too funny. Unfortunately, Shikamaru didn't think so.

"Just get me out of here! And bring me some food!" Chouji said.

Shikamaru hung up and walked over to my window. "Wait, you're seriously not going to jump out, are you?" I asked, holding him back. " I can sneak you out the back door."

"Nah, it'll just take too long. This way is faster," he said.

"And dangerous," I said, adamant.

"Bye Ino," he said, giving me a quick kiss before jumping down onto the grass. He stood up from his crouch and gave me a thumbs-up before running to his car a few houses down. I let out a breath, not realizing I had been holding it in.

"Thank god," I sighed in relief. Then I smiled.

*****End of Chapter*****

**A/N: Sorry for the really long update but it's summer vacation and we are both so busy. Hope everyone else is having a good break before school starts again!**

**Also, we're gonna try to update sooner, we promise!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: SORRY FOR THE LONG AWAITED UPDATE..HOPE NO ONE IS MAD LOL**

**Well, here's chapter 6 of Faking It**

_Previously on the last chapter:_

"_Well, uh, you see…I got stuck in the air vent! I need reinforcement, I need food! Ugh, and it smells like something died in here…oh, I think something did die…oh, god!" Chouji wailed._

"_Hahahahahaha!" I laughed, falling over to my side. This was too funny. Unfortunately, Shikamaru didn't think so._

"_Just get me out of here! And bring me some food!" Chouji said. _

_Shikamaru hung up and walked over to my window. "Wait, you're seriously not going to jump out, are you?" I asked, holding him back. " I can sneak you out the back door."_

"_Nah, it'll just take too long. This way is faster," he said. _

"_And dangerous," I said, adamant._

"_Bye Ino," he said, giving me a quick kiss before jumping down onto the grass. He stood up from his crouch and gave me a thumbs-up before running to his car a few houses down. I let out a breath, not realizing I had been holding it in. _

"_Thank god," I sighed in relief. Then I smiled. _

**Chapter Six**

"So I guess you must be happy that Shikamaru's suspension is finally over," Hinata said.

"Ugh. It's _Friday, _I so do not need to start my weekend with a guilt trip," I said, getting books out of my lockers. We were waiting for Sakura, who was running a bit late finishing a quiz. "Why is she taking so long? I thought she was smart," I said.

"It's Calculus," Hinata said.

"It's hor-ri-ble. The mall isn't going to stay open forever, you know," I said.

"If I wasn't so observant, I'd say that you were trying to avoid the subject," Hinata said. She raised an eyebrow at me. "You like him, don't you? Like, really, _really _like him."

"Psh," I said. "What makes you say such an ugly thing like that? It's an insult to my good tastes."

"Give it up Ino. Who are you really fooling now? You like Shikamaru," she said.

"No I don't. He's just a great kisser. I can't help it if my lips are attracted to his," I said.

"I don't think it's just your lips," Hinata said with a coy smile.

"Hey girls. Sorry I'm late," Sakura said, walking towards us. "That test was super ugly."

"Oh, trust me, there's been a lot of _that _going around," I said. Sakura looked confused, then shook her head, disregarding it.

"Anyway, c'mon! Sephora is having a sale," she said, dragging us along.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Oh my god, my favorite mascara. And it's the last one. I'm getting it!" I said.

"The lip glosses are over there! And they're 20% off!" Sakura said.

"Forget the lip glosses, look at the eye shadows!" Hinata said.

The three of us behaved like little kids in a candy store. We hogged all the free make up in the testing section and dabbed on eye shadows onto our lids and applied different shades of lip gloss. I sniffed so much perfume that I almost lost my sense of smell.

"T think I liked the flowery scented one best," I said.

"Hmm…I'm not sure if I should get the coral red lip gloss. Does it look good with my skin tone?" Hinata said.

"Girls, are you going to buy something?" a sandy blonde worker said. Her arms were crossed and she had a bored expression on her face.

"Yeah, we're just looking around," I said, grabbing a tester tube of lipstick.

The girl turned around and muttered something that sounded a lot like "damn freeloaders." Oh hell no.

"Excuse me?" I said. "What did you call us?" Sakura and Hinata cast worried glances at me.

"You must be hearing things," she said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Are you calling me a crazy?"

"No, but I might call security to escort you out if you don't quiet yourself down, little girl," she said. Her dark blue eyes were laughing at me.

"Ino, just drop it," Sakura said.

"Did you hear what she called me? A little girl, really? I've never been more insulted in my life," I said.

"Let's not start a scene. Please," Hinata said. I sighed.

"Fine. Let's leave then. I wouldn't want to buy anything from a store with such rude and disrespectful employees," I said.

"You might want to wipe all that makeup off your face before you leave. I'm sure your mom won't be happy to see her daughter playing grown-up. Young girls always put on much more makeup than they should," the blonde said.

"And maybe you should put on more concealer. You're not doing such a good job on hiding all those wrinkles," I said fiercely. It was a lie. She was probably in her early twenties and her face looked flawless. I won't say much about the rest of her, except that she was the thin, voluptuous type. Lucky bitch.

"C'mon Ino, let's just leave," Sakura said, herding me towards the exit. I was not a happy camper. That bitch ruined my shopping experience.

"And did you see her hair?" I said as we walked to the food court for smoothies. Her hair was the only fault I could find in her.

"Yeah. What about it?" Hinata said. "It's blonde."

"Nuh-uh. _Mine _is blonde. She thinks she's a blonde, but hers is such an ugly tawny color. You know what color it is? Its _sandy. _And it's so crazy curly. Ha, she had it in these weird ponytails. Poor girl, she probably can't even control all those curls."

"Ino, just stop it. Don't let that girl ruin your shopping," Sakura said.

"Too late, Sak. She already did. The only thing that could make this worse would be if my credit card got rejected or something," I said.

We ordered our drinks and found a table to sit down at. I slurped my mango banana smoothie and looked around the mall. There had to be something absolutely amazing… I would not leave empty handed.

I saw a big sign over by H and M that announced a model search looking for women between the ages of 16 to 28. Oh my-

"Oh my god! Ino, quit squeezing my arm!" Sakura said, trying to release my hand from her arm. I quickly let go.

"I'm sorry, but I was distracted."

"By what?" she asked.

"By that sign over there. Look!" I said, pointing.

"Another model search? Ino, I thought you gave up on that when you never heard back from whats-his-face," Hinata said.

"I didn't give up on modeling. I just….took a little setback," I said. "The last photo shoot didn't go exactly as I wanted it to…but really, that was for shoes. Now this is going to show off my money selling feature- my beautiful face."

"Hmm….someone's over confident," Sakura said.

"Well, I did get approached by a photographer," I said, not mentioning that Tal was a fake (and a creep). "Why don't we all sign up?" I suggested.

"No thanks. I don't need to be a model to know how beautiful I am," Sakura said. We all laughed. "What about you Hinata?"

"I probably wouldn't be picked," she said.

"Oh, c'mon. That settles it, you definitely have to sign up with me," I said. "Let's go."

"Ugh. How do I even get myself into these situations?" Hinata said as we walked to the booth.

We filled out the applications and got our Polaroid picture taken for our portfolio. Meanwhile, Sakura was busy chatting up with a cutie who looked a lot like Sasuke…except she didn't look too happy.

"Who are _you _calling ugly?" she said loudly and then slapped him across the face. Damn. She walked back to us, as dignified as she could. She was breathing heavily, more from anger than from exhaustion.

"Sakura, what happened? Why'd you slap that guy?" I asked.

"He said that it was a good thing I didn't sign up for the model search because I was too ugly. The nerve of that guy!" she said.

"Yeah, well, you showed him. I think you slapped him into next week," I said.

"Thanks," she said proudly.

"You two are the most violent girls I've ever met," Hinata said with an amused smirk.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

**The next day….**

I woke up to the savory smell of bacon, and like a zombie, I walked blindly (my eyes still half-shut with sand or whatever you call that crusty thing that sits on top of your eyelids) to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"Mmm…it smells so good, " I said, rubbing my eyes. "Good morning mom." I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning, hon," she said. "Go serve your father some coffee before he comes down. You know how he is without his morning cup of coffee."

I nibbled on a piece of bacon as I grabbed my dad's favorite mug and poured coffee into it. I noticed mom had also made French toast and scrambled eggs. I just loved weekend breakfasts…although mom made _way _too much food for just the three of us.

"Mom, why'd you make so much food?" I asked, pouring myself a glass of orange juice.

"Oh, we're having the Naras come over. They should be here any moment," she said.

"What?" I said, almost dropping my glass. "And you decide to tell me this now?"

"Didn't Shikamaru tell you?" she asked.

"No! And he can't see me like this. I don't even have any make-up on and, oh god, I'm wearing pajamas and fuzzy slippers!" I exclaimed, pointing to my feet.

"Oh Ino, it's too early in the morning to be dramatic. Besides, you look cute in your pajamas," she said.

"You're only saying that because grandma picked them out for me when she visited. Sure, they're comfortable, but they're hideous! They have green frogs on them!" I said.

"Ino, I thought you liked them. You were so happy when your grandma bought them for you," she said. She doesn't get that my great show of happiness was fake. I only pretended to be happy so my grandma would be pleased. "They're purple, your favorite color."

Before I could come up with another retort the doorbell tang. Oh no. I made a quickl getaway to the stairs, but my father was coming down at the same time.

"Dad!" I said.

"Ino, no running up the stairs," he said, grabbing me by my shoulders and leading me _back _down. "C'mon. Why aren't you dressed yet? Oh, it doesn't matter, we're all family here."

No, no, no. We were by the front door, his hand still on my shoulder. He opened it and greeted Mr. Nara with a massive bro hug. The two started gibbering, which gave me a chance to quietly sneak away, except Mrs. Nara reached out and engulfed me in a hug.

"Good morning Mrs. Nara," I said, patting her back, hoping she's release me soon.

"Oh, good morning to you too Ino. You just look so adorable!" she said, inspecting me in my purple and green horror. "Oh, I'm sorry, I think I messed up your hair."

"No, don't worry, you didn't. I just woke up and haven't had time to fix it or anything," I said. I smiled, to show her that everything was okay.

"What, don't I get a good morning as well?" Shikamaru said, a bowl of fruit salad in his hands. "I should, after having to wake up so damn early to come here."

His mom grabbed the bowl from his hands. "I'll just bring this to the kitchen and help your mom," she said, leaving. My dad and Mr. Nara had already left to the living room to watch TV.

I turned towards Shikamaru. "No you do _not _get a good morning. Why didn't you tell me about this?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Nice pjs," he said.

"Stop avoiding the subject. Why didn't you tell me if you knew about it? I thought we were in an open and honest relationship. That means we tell each other _everything_," I said.

And if you had told me, then I wouldn't be here in my froggie pajamas with no make up on to hide the zit on my chin. I didn't tell him this, of course.

"I only found out about this last night," Shikamaru said.

"You could've called or texted," I said.

"I'm grounded, remember? My mom took my phone privileges away after she found out Chouji was stuck in the air vent," he said.

"How is Chouji anyway? He missed school yesterday."

"He went to the hospital for dehydration. Poor guy was delirious from lack of food and water," Shikamaru said.

"Oh. I feel so bad for laughing at him. I didn't know it was that bad," I said. "But he's okay now, right?"

"Yeah, if by him eating a dozen chalupas at Taco Bell is any indication," he said. His black eye was almost entirely gone. It was a yellowish color now. "What are you staring at?" he asked, self-conscious of his bruised eye. He was so not the macho type.

"Nothing. What are _you _staring at?" Please not my zit, please not my zit, please not my-

"You. Your lips. For the first time they're not covered in gloss. I wonder how…" he said, moving closer towards me, "they feel…" And he kissed me right there, in the middle of the front hall where either of our parents could walk in at any minute and see us.

I pulled away, shocked. "Shikamaru! Not here," I whispered.

"Fine. Then we'll go someplace else," he said, leading me to the empty hallway by the study. He started kissing me gently and sweetly.

"Shika….no….I haven't even….brushed my teeth yet," I said in between kisses. He stopped to look at me. "What? You can't possibly like my morning breath.

"I missed you like crazy," he admitted. I guess that's what being grounded does to you. Mrs. Nara probably had him in solitary confinement. "I even got my lazy ass out of bed this early on a Saturday morning to come see you."

"Early? It's, like, almost ten," I said.

"I usually don't get up til noon," he said.

I smacked him on the arm. "You _are_ lazy," I said.

"And hungry. Is breakfast ready yet?" Shikamaru said.

"It should be," I replied.

"And to answer your question, your morning breath smells oddly like bacon. I mean, I know your name means pig, but-"

I smacked him again. "I ate a piece of bacon, genius," I said. He smirked.

"I know, I just wanted to mess with you for once," Shikamaru said as we walked to the kitchen.

"Oh good, you're here," mom said. "Take a seat, take a seat. Inoichi! Shikaku! The food's ready!"

"I swear. It's that damn TV…they can't be without it," Mrs. Nara said.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was helping himself to some eggs and bacon. "Don't be shy Shikamaru," my mom said, coming with plate with even more bacon and sausage. "Have more," she said, piling more meat on his plate.

"Shikamaru, my boy, show Inoichi your muscles," Mr. Nara proudly said. "He's been working out a lot lately, besides sleeping, of course." Everyone laughed. "C'mon, son, don't be shy. Show off your guns!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "This is embarrassing," he said as he lifted his arm and contracted his muscles. His biceps were bulging out of his sleeves. Whoa.

"Well. If you're getting muscular, then you need more protein," my mom said, serving him even _more _meat. Shikamaru looked horrified. I was horrified as well- _he _was getting more attention than me.

"Ino, is something wrong? You're unusually quiet," Mrs. Nara said. Finally _some _attention.

"No, I'm fine," I said with a smile. The rest of breakfast was spent in pleasant conversation and lighthearted jokes. Afterwards, when everyone was stuffed with enough food, the adults gathered to the back patio. The moms sat down in the shade and talked while the dads played a friendly game of ping-pong. Shikamaru and I stayed inside, where we cuddled on the sofa and watched a movie on TV.

"See, now you know that's fake. There is no way someone can jump off a moving truck and land perfectly harmless," I said.

"Do you have to commentate? This is the good part," Shikamaru said, engrossed on the screen. So much for "missing me like crazy." Today should just be called Ignore Ino, The Girl with Ugly Pajamas and a Zit Day.

If I wasn't getting Sasuke's attention, or Shikamaru's for that case, then what the hell was I doing wrong? That fight wasn't for nothing….they were defending their "woman" (as chauvinistic as that sounds). Well, I wasn't feeling much like a woman right now, more like some thing in a purple potato sack. How yummy.

Wait, that's it! I need to-

"Wahahaha, Shika! Stop t-tickling me!" I said as he unexpectedly started tickling my stomach.

He knew my weak spot, but that was fine because I knew his as well. I tickled his underarms, showing no mercy. We both wriggled and giggled on the couch and eventually landed on the carpet with a loud PLOP. I fell on top of Shikamaru and conveniently remembered the new and improved plan I came up with just a few minutes earlier.

My pajama top was askew, with one of the sleeves hanging down to reveal my bra strap and just a bit of harmless cleavage. I shrugged my shoulder to reveal a little bit _more _and saw Shikamaru's eyes widen. I quickly got off from him and innocently fixed my top. His look told me all I needed to know.

Every guy falls victim to seduction….and Sasuke had a very appreciative look in his eyes when he saw me wearing that wonderful dress at Kiba's party a few weeks back….when this whole plot began, actually. Jealousy worked, but only to a certain degree, so now I needed to spice things up.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Tell me again why you're ransacking my closet?" Sakura asked.

I was in her room, looking through her clothes for anything _spicy._ "Because I have a date with Shikamaru tomorrow night and all my clothes just scream 'blah!' I don't want to bore the guy," I said.

"But you might just blind him with the amount of cleavage you're showing. Is that a new bra?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. I just bought it at Victoria's Secret. And a lot others like this," I said, inspecting a top with a sweetheart neckline.

"I can't believe you."

"I know, I felt weird buying so much sexy lingerie."

"No, I can't believe you went shopping without me," Sakura said, a frown marring her face. "Meanwhile I was here, reading yet another vampire book."

I sighed, sitting down beside her on the bed. "I'm sorry Sakura, but that was like a last minute shopping trip."

Sakura eyed the shirt I had picked out. "This would go great with your yellow wedges," she said, letting me know that all was forgiven. Then she smiled. "So you're trying to show off to Shikamaru?"

I blushed, remembering the way Shikamaru has looked at me earlier today. "I'm trying to redeem myself after he saw me in my froggie pajamas," I replied.

Sakura laughed. "Your grandma has _great _style," she said.

I held the yellow shirt up to my body. "You don't think it's too much?" I asked.

"No, it's fine. I'm sure Shikamaru, or any other guy for that matter, won't be able to keep their eyes off you," Sakura said.

"Perfect," I said.

After I left Sakura's house, I called my good buddy Kiba.

"Yo, this is K-dawg," he answered.

"Hey Kiba, it's Ino," I said. I am a great multi-tasker. I can pluck my eyebrows, watch TV reflected from the mirror, and keep a conversation over the phone at the same time.

"Ino, what a lovely surprise. How's it going?" he said.

"It's going good. Listen, I have a favor to ask of you," I said.

"What is it?"

"Well, Monday is mine and Shikamaru's one week anniversary and we're going to celebrate tomorrow night by going to the movies and having dinner afterwards."

"One week already? Damn. Time goes by fast, it seems like just yesterday that you two were mortal enemies," Kiba said. Aha! So it was _him _who coined that phrase.

"Anyways, I would really be happy if all our friends could be there to celebrate with us. Could you bring the rest of the crew along?" I asked.

"Yeah, this is going to be awesome. So, by 'the crew' you want me to bring _everybody_? Including Sasuke?" he asked.

"Oh, I guess so since he goes wherever Naruto goes, and Naruto _has _to come. He and Shikamaru are really good friends," I said.

"Hehe, this _is _going to be amazing," Kiba said.

"You have no idea. Ow! Fucking tweezers," I said, rubbing my eyebrow. I had plucked an ingrown hair and damn did it hurt.

"Ino? You okay?" Kiba asked.

"Do I sound okay? No!" I replied.

"Uh, bye." And he hung up on me. Incredible. I called Hinata next.

"Ino, what's up?" she said.

"Hey Hinata. I'm in one of my 'pain is beauty' moods," I said.

"Ouch. Well, it's hard being a girl," she said. "Not that many people realize that."

"Yeah." Then I filled her in on my plan. "So what do you think?"

"It's horrible! You're ruining a special moment. Not only that, but you're demeaning yourself as well," Hinata said.

"I already told Sakura to come, so I hope you can come too. And Naruto is coming as well, in case you forgot. This could be your chance Hinata," I said.

"Ino, you're just looking for trouble."

"No, I'm not. I'm just looking for love."

"Well, you already have it right in front of you," she said.

"I do?"

"It's Shikamaru, duh! He honestly likes you, and deep down you do too. Why can't you be happy with that?"

"Because it's not him I want," I said.

"Are you sure? Maybe you're so caught up in your own web of lies that you don't know what's true anymore," Hinata said.

"I hope to see you tomorrow," I said briskly, hanging up. Man, it feels so much better to be the hang-upper instead of the hang-uppee. Now, back to m eyebrows.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

**A/N: And now, a quick break from Ino's POV to Shikamaru's POV**

Girls. They tell you to come at a certain time just to make you end up waiting for them. And at a public place no less. This is quite embarrassing. Everyone is looking at me like I'm a loser who got stood up. And I'm starting to believe them. It's been ten minutes. I could still be taking my pre-date nap.

"Excuse me, are you sure you don't want to buy your tickets now before the movie gets sold out?" the guy behind the ticket booth asked.

"No, I'd rather buy them when my girlfriend comes. Then we can buy them _together_," I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "_Suuure. _You know, I've actually seen this happen a lot more times than you can imagine."

Unbelievable. "My girlfriend _is _coming," I reassured him (and myself). "She's just running a bit late. You know how girls take forever to get ready. She's really pretty but kind of insecure, so she takes even longer to get ready."

"Whatever you say dude," the ticket guy (Sai, his nametag read) said.

"You know what? This is too troublesome, why am I even trying to explain to you?" I said. "What time is it anyway?"

"Time for you to quit waiting for someone who isn't coming," Sai said.

"She'll be here," I said, not liking this guy very much. He kind of looked like Sasuke too, another reason not to like him.

I looked around, expecting to see Ino among the crowds of people lingering around the front of the movie theatre. I don't get why I couldn't just have picked her up myself. It would've been no problem (and I could've waited on the couch instead of out here with a rude Sasuke-look-a-like).

Hold on- is that? No, it can't be. That would be too much of a coincidence.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Kiba yelled, walking towards me. He was followed by Shino, Choji, Sakura, Naruto…and Sasuke. Oh hell no.

"Surprise!" Choji said, clapping me on the back. "Didn't think we'd _all _be here, did you?"

"Actually, I didn't think _any_ of you would be here," I said, glancing at Sasuke with distaste.

"Shikamaru, what's that you're trying to hide? Are those….oh my god, you bought flowers! How romantic!" Sakura said, sneaking behind me and grabbing the bouquet of lavender roses from my hands. She sniffed them and smiled.

"Do you think-" I started to say.

"Oh, don't worry. Those are her favorite," Hinata said.

"Hey, where did Sasuke go?" Kiba said.

"I don't know, he got a real pissed off look on his face and just left," Naruto said, looking around for Sasuke. I didn't really care about that, what I did care about was if Ino was ever going to come. The movie was going to start soon.

"Here. You give those to her," Sakura said, handing me back the flowers. "I have a feeling Ino is going to be here soon." Girls are always so mysterious.

"I don't want to sound rude, but what the hell is everybody doing here?" I finally asked. They all looked confused and uncomfortable.

"Heeey! The party's here!" I heard Ino's voice. I turned around and looked at her.

"Whoa," I said (and possibly every guy within a 50 foot radius).

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

**AN: Hope ya'll liked the chapter. We'll be updating the next one real soon this time. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: We are so happy for the amazing reviews we've received and we're glad that this story has gotten such positive feedback! Here's the new chapter- filled with even more crazy drama, fights, tears, and kisses!**

_Previously on the last chapter:_

"_I don't want to sound rude, but what the hell is everybody doing here?" I finally asked. They all looked confused and uncomfortable._

"_Heeey! The party's here!" I heard Ino's voice. I turned around and looked at her. _

"_Whoa," I said (and possibly every guy within a 50 foot radius)._

**Chapter 7**

Shikamaru's reaction was exactly what I had expected. His eyes were glued on to me and his stare told me that I was irresistible. I flipped my hair back and dazzled him with my smile.

"Ino!" Hinata gasped, rushing to drape her cardigan over my shoulders. "Did you forget some of your clothes at home?" And just like that, Shikamaru snapped out of his trance.

"Why are you wearing that?" he asked. I looked down at my ensemble- it consisted of a deep V-necked flower-patterned black lace top with crème-colored satin underneath, black denim shorts that were barely visible beneath the hem of the shirt, and taupe-colored pumps.

"Hey Kiba, put your eyes back on before I put them back on for you," I said, trying to avoid Shikamaru's question.

Kiba blinked and coughed. "Ahem…that's a nice shirt you have on," he said. Then realizing that Shikamaru was standing beside him he added, "It really brings out your eyes…yeah, you're eyes, which is what I was staring at…your eyes…on your face, above your neck." He should just stop talking.

"Heheh," Chouji said nervously, aware of the awkwardness in the air. "So what movie are we going to see?" he asked.

"I suggest a comedy," Naruto said.

"Good idea," Shino said as I shrugged off Hinata's cardigan and returned it to her.

"Here. I don't need it," I said.

"I think you do," Shikamaru chimed in. Everyone else had gotten in line to buy their tickets. "Let's talk. I have a lot of questions to ask you- the first being what the hell are they doing here?"

"To celebrate with us. How nice of them," I commented, trying to spot Sasuke. Where was he?

"You call that nice? More like intrusive," Shikamaru said. Was he upset? "This was suppose to be a date, as in two people alone."

"I really don't want to argue with-"

"Who said anything about arguing? We're just having a reasonable discussion," he said.

"Well, then, I want to end it," I said.

"End what?" he said, sounding alarmed.

"This stupid discussion! It took me almost two hours to get ready and you haven't even given me the attention I wanted," I said, breathing heavily from my exclamation.

"I…umm…," Shikamaru said, struck dumbfounded.

Just then Sasuke came into my peripheral vision. His eyes widened when he took a good look at me. He was rendered speechless for a few moments…until he noticed Shikamaru's menacing glare.

"I see that she didn't accept your flowers," Sasuke said. That's when I realized that Shikamaru held a bouquet in his hand. "But perhaps she'll prefer these." He took a small box out of his pocket and revealed a pair of pink pearl earrings.

"Oh my….these are incredibly stunning!" I said. Sasuke sneered at Shikamaru.

"I'm glad you like them," he said, putting the box back inside his pocket. "They were given to me on loan but your reaction just gave me hope." Awww! "Say goodbye to Naruto for me. I can't stay." Then just as quick as he came, he left.

"Bastard," Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

"Hey, you two, hurry up! The movie is about to start soon!" Naruto yelled.

"On our way!" I said, tugging on Shikamaru's sleeve. We passed a trash can where Shikamaru deliberately threw the bouquet of flowers. I gasped. "Why'd you do that?" The lavender roses were beautiful. Now they were shoved between greasy popcorn buckets and candy wrappers.

"Forget about it," Shikamaru said gruffly. "How can stupid flowers compare to pearl earrings?" He continued walking past the movie theatre.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I asked, struggling to keep up in my four inch heels.

"Back to my car. I'm leaving," he said.

"What? No, you can't. It's our one week anniversary."

"Hardly anything special to celebrate," Shikamaru said. Ouch. I stopped following him, but I don't think he noticed. This was bad. It made me question everything.

"Fine, then, I don't want anything to with you anymore," I said, surprised to find tears glistening in my eyes. It was going to ruin my make-up, but at this point I didn't care. What I did care about was the stupid jerk in front of me.

Shikamaru turned around to look at me. "Always so dramatic," he said, coming closer. "You don't really mean it Ino."

"Yes I do!" I cried. I never thought I'd have a lover's quarrel in a public place, but my emotions were pouring out. I ignored other people's stares at they walked past us.

"You ruin everything," I said, poking him on the chest.

"Do I?" Shikamaru said with a sardonic smirk.

"You don't like _anything _that I do, even when I'm doing nothing wrong. It seems like it's hard for you to enjoy the same things I do," I said.

Shikamaru sighed. "You're a very hard girl to please," he said. Even I had to agree with him on that. "But complexes aside, it's quite simple to understand what makes you happy."

I was dying to know what his response was…mainly because I didn't even know.

"You want to be the most important thing in people's hearts," he said. "I've been observing and analyzing your behavior all these years, Ino. You're selfish, but a fiercely loyal friend. You uplift those around you…yet you can never be satisfied unless you capture everyone's attention. I've always wondered why."

He latched on to my arm and held my gaze. There was a sparkle in his eyes. I was scared of his words, how squirmish they made me feel.

"You need reassurance of your importance. It's as simple as that, and I know it now. You feel threatened, _forgotten, _if not in the limelight you so crave," Shikamaru said, baring my soul. I felt my walls come down.

"So you've figured me out?" I said, wanting him to release me. He made me sound like such an ugly person.

"Just a part of you," he said, his eyes searing into mine. Why won't he let me go?

'Then let go of me please!" I said. I was humiliated and all I wanted to do now was crawl into my bed and forget about everything.

"There are still other parts of you that I want to know," Shikamaru said, his eyes softening. "It won't be that easy to get rid of me Ino, just because things might not come out your way."

Crap. I usually avoid situations like these. Everything Shikamaru said is true. I'm a selfish brat who doesn't really value other people's feelings that much. In the end, I place my goals before everyone else's. but now…after hearing Shikamaru, I realize I have to change. I don't want to be _that_ girl anymore. Shikamaru may have been harsh in his words, but at least he was being real…which is what I wish I could be.

I hid my face in Shikamaru's chest and started purging all my tears. It felt therapeutic to be releasing something real, all my mixed emotions and in adequacies that I've been keeping inside.

Shikamaru held me in his arms, stroking my hair in a soothing manner. I was getting his shirt all wet and slobbery with my tears and snot. I wonder if he noticed…oh well.

I felt horrible for what I was putting Shikamaru through…I was playing such a cruel game with his heart. All I had cared about was my plan and using him as a pawn. I cried even harder.

"Shhh, shhh," he said, hushing my sobs. He lifted my head up and swiped some tears away.

"Shikamaru…," I whispered

Then I held his face in my hands and kissed him. He quickly responded back and wrapped his arms around me, pressing me closer towards him.

"Hey! Are you two going to watch the movie or not?" I heard Chouji say in the background. Shikamaru and I continued our kiss. "Uhh…I'm going to take that as a no."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo

We were in his car, caught in a steamy moment. Out of respect for me, Shikamaru was keeping it mostly PG. But from the way his lips moved on my skin, I knew he was a lot more experienced. He has obviously gone farther than just kissing. The thought was exciting and frightening at the same time.

Shikamaru pulled me onto his lap and my back was against the steering wheel. Forget about the PG rating because the kiss went up a few notches. I felt my stomach quivering. I've never really been in this position with a guy before. I wasn't uncomfortable…just inexperienced in this situation.

I removed Shikamaru's hand from my thigh. "Umm…this is kinda new to me…," I said, feeling mortified. Oh my god, why don't I just tape my mouth? I was very aware of the stupid steering wheel behind me and Shikamaru's warm breath just inches away.

"We could do something else. I mean, we are celebrating right? Let's do something crazy," Shikamaru said.

My eyes widened. This was unusual, coming from Shikamaru. It was uncharacteristic of him. "Like what?" I asked.

"I don't know. What have you always wanted to do?" Shikamaru said.

"Get a tattoo, but there's no way that my parents would-"

"Okay," he said, cutting me off. "Let's do it."

"What? Are you serious?" I said. "That's -"

"Crazy? Which is exactly why we should do it," Shikamaru said. This was a whole new side of him that I've never seen before. Huh. I guess he's not as boring as I thought he was.

"You _can't_ be serious. I thought you'd be against doing something like this." I said.

"You've been rubbing off one me Ino. Some of your wildness has seeped into me," he said, finally making sense. I am a powerful influence (I'm a Konoha High Cheerleader for god's sake) and obviously it would start having an affect on those around me.

"Ok. Let's do this," I said excitedly.

I got off Shikamaru's lap and he drove us to a tattoo parlor that one of his friends worked at. "Actually, he's not that much of a friend, just a very good acquaintance of mine," Shikamaru elaborated.

"Oh. What's his name?" I asked.

"Kankuro. He's about two years older than us," he said.

"And he's licensed, right?"

"Yeaahh." It was a suspicious 'yeah'.

We arrived at the place and I lost some of my giddiness. The idea of getting a tattoo was cool, but actually going through with it was not. And then if my parents ever found out…Well, I just had to make sure to get it in a conspicuous place.

I got out of the car and readjusted my top a bit, not wanting my cleavage to cause unwanted attention. This area seemed off…as if the smoking biker's weren't already an indication. I moved closer to Shikamaru and he put a protective arm around me.

The door jingled when we walked in, alerting whoever was working that customers had arrived. Shikamaru and I were the only people there, but I could hear voices coming from a room in the back.

The parlor itself was very dark and the walls were covered with photos of people with their newly done tattoos. There were pieces of art and wooden puppets hanging on the walls as well. And yet I could not find a single license anywhere. Hmm….

"Hey, what can - Shikamaru!" a guy said, walking out of the back room. He wore dark clothes and had a weird purple design tattooed on his face. This was probably Kankuro. He looked surprised to see Shikamaru here. He quickly composed himself. "How's it going dude?" he asked.

"I'm good. A lot's happened, actually," Shikamaru replied. Kankuro turned his head to look at me and seemed to finally notice I was there.

"I can see that," he said. "You went and got yourself a girlfriend. Damn. And a hot one too." He chuckled.

"I'm Ino," I said, offering him my hand.

"With a voice like an angel," he said, shaking hands with me. "The name's Kankuro, sweetheart." He winked. I laughed nervously.

"Ok, stop flirting with my girlfriend. Your incessant charm is freaking her out," Shikamaru said. Kankuro laughed wholeheartedly.

"So what brings you two lovebird here?"

"Isn't it obvious? We want to get inked," Shikamaru said.

"You sure about that? Tattoos are permanent. As in _forever_," Kankuro said, emphasizing the word 'forever' in a dark, ominous voice.

"Yeah, we're sure. I just want to see your license first," I said. Kankuro burst out laughing. When he saw the look on my face he stopped.

"Oh, you were serious?" he asked. "A license isn't anything but a piece of paper anyway." True.

"Do you know what design you want?" a boy said, stepping out from the back room. He had a mop of red hair and black eyeliner reckoning his eyes. He too had a tattoo on his face- the characters for "LOVE" were marked on his forehead.

"This is my brother Gaara," Kankuro said, introducing him.

"Really? You two look nothing alike," I said.

"I know. I got all the looks in the family and he didn't," Kankuro said teasingly. I was warming up to him. He was actually quite funny.

Shikamaru clapped Gaara on the back and gave him a friendly smile. "Hey, since when have you been working here?" he asked.

"For almost two months now," Gaara replied. " I wanted to earn some extra money and one of Kankuro's guys quit so I just took his place. Cool, huh?"

"Yeah, that's awesome. I could use some extra money myself," Shikamaru said.

"But don't your parents give you money? I mean, your father is a big-shot lawyer isn't he?" Gaara said.

"Yeah, but he feels that I should earn my money instead of having it handed out to me. That's why I'm stuck doing chores until I can find a decent job, but I'm just too-'

"Lazy?" Kankuro said. Shikamaru smirked. "How bout you sweetheart? What's your story?"

"There's not much of a story," I said. Oh, what an understatement. My life is a freakin' soap opera these days. I don't even remember which lie I told to which person. "I'm just your average high school cheerleader."

"Oh, so you're a cheerleader?" Gaara said, intrigued.

"That means you must be very _flexible_," Kankuro said suggestively. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, looking annoyed.

"Enough already. Show some respect," he said.

"Sorry man," Kankuro said.

"I'm right here, you know. I've been here the whole time," I said. "And I don't appreciate the suggestive comments you've said. If you should apologize to anyone, it should be to me, _not _Shikamaru."That sobered him right up and he apologized.

We went over different designs and after fifteen minutes, Shikamaru had picked a deer while I was still unsure.

"I don't know what to get, " I said.

"How about a frog?" Shikamaru suggested with a teasing smile. I smacked him on the arm.

"You just won't let that go, will you?"

"No. Those were cute pajamas."

"Ugghh. I need something that represents me," I said.

"Well, you could get a pig. I mean, that's what your name means," Shikamaru said.

"A pig, really?" I said skeptically.

"Yeah, it'd be cute. A pink, little pig right there," he said, pointing to just above my navel. The idea did seem cute.

"Ok, I'm doing it," I said.

xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I thought Shikamaru was going to get a small tattoo like mine, but, no, he chose a huge deer on his back. The antlers curling over his shoulder blades looked cool, but the whole process took an hour. And he still had to come back afterwards to finish it off.

"Impressive job Kankuro," I said as he put a bandage on Shikamaru's tattoo. My eyes kept traveling the length of his well defined abs and pectorals and biceps and…I really have to stop being a pervert. Hehe.

"You're welcome," he said. "Now get off the seat Shika so the pretty lady can get inked."

I had refused for Gaara to tattoo me because I found out he was only our age, whereas Kankuro was nineteen and legal (even if he did fail in producing a license). I sat down and lifted my shirt up for a few inches, trying to relax myself.

"It's ok Ino, don't be nervous," Shikamaru said with his shirt back on. "I'll sit right next to you and hold your hand." I nodded my head.

"Ready?" Kankuro asked. Gaara changed the music to something more calming- Lady Gaga. Well, it was more calming that the heavy metal rock music that had been playing previously.

While Kankuro was tattooing me, my stomach decided to growl. At this point my hunger pains were overriding the physical pain. Okay, so the pain wasn't _that _bad, but it was comforting having Shikamaru's hand to squeeze.

"Sakura and Hinata are going to freak when they see it," I said. My stomach growled again. Ugh.

"It seems like your lady is hungry," Kankuro said.

"Shit! It's almost dinnertime. I hadn't been paying attention to the time," Shikamaru said.

"I'm almost done….there!" Kankuro said.

I sat up and inspected the (my) tattoo. "Aww! It's adorable!" I said. "It looks like Piglet from Winnie the Pooh!"

"Okay, now let me bandage this real quick and you can be on your way to a romantic dinner with Lazy Ass over here," Kankuro said.

"Haha," Shikamaru said dryly. "So how much do I owe you?"

"It's free of charge," Kankuro said.

"But-"

"You should spend your money on this pretty girl. Take her out somewhere nice," he said.

"There's an Italian restaurant nearby, about two blocks away. It's a bit of a hole in the wall, but the food is amazing," Gaara said. He turned a page in his sports magazine. At least, I'm hoping that the scantily-clad women in the pages had something to do with sports.

"Pasta sounds so good right now," I said. Actually, anything sounded good.

We heard a jingle coming from the front door and the wonderful scent of Chinese take-out. "I brought dinner!" a vaguely familiar voice said. Everyone tensed up. Then I saw who it was. It was that girl from the mall.

"You! You kicked me out, bitch!" I said.

"You skank! You got me fired!" she said.

"Hold up! You two know each other?" Shikamaru asked.

The girl looked at him and me. "Wait, you two know each other?" she said.

"Yes! Do you two know each other?" I asked.

"Hang on a sec, you all know each other?" Kankuro said with confusion.

Then Gaara sighed, turning another page in his dirty men's (not sports) magazine. "Idiots, we _all _know each other."

"How do you know Shikamaru?" I asked, standing up. Although I think in my heart I already knew the answer.

"He's my ex," she replied. "And apparently he's already moved on…and downgraded."

I lunged towards her, ready to claw my hands into her face, but Shikamaru restrained me in his arms.

"You should have better control over her, Shikamaru. She seems….savage. But I guess that's how you prefer them, right?" she said.

"Temari, _you _broke up with me. So you have no right to-."

"Oh, I think I have several rights," that Temari girl said, plopping down the bag of Chinese take-out on a chair and walking closer towards us. Up close she was beyond gorgeous (and I'm betting she wasn't wearing a push-up bra because she didn't need one). "If I remember correctly, I only decided that we should take a break from each other, that's all," she said.

"And that we should see new people," Shikamaru said.

"I didn't think you'd actually go and get a new girlfriend…and especially so soon," Temari said.

"Well, neither did I. It's not like I planned it," Shikamaru said. "It just happened."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Little children falling off bikes just happens, _this _does not."

"Okay, time out! Time out!" Kankuro called. "I need to go on a quick bathroom break, but just pause everything. Don't say anything until I get back!" he said as he ran to the back room.

"So how did I get you fired?" I asked Temari. Kankuro would just have to miss this.

She gave me the evil eye. "What's your name again?"

"Ino." Not that I had ever mentioned it to her before. She started laughing, the tilt-your-head-back-muahahaha-kind-of-laugh.

"Oh, that is just too good!" Temari said, wiping away tears. "Well, Ino, the reason I got fired is because of you."

"Me? You were the one who was being rude to paying customers," I said in defense.

"You left the store before you could even pay for anything," she said. "Although you left with half the store's makeup on your face. Haha."

"Whatever. At least I'm not the one who is boyfriend-less and jobless," I said, quite proud of myself. That was almost cruel.

"You bitch!" Temari said, reaching for my hair, but Shikamaru pulled me out of harm's way. Gaara stood up and restrained Temari from trying to attack me again. It was proving to be difficult because she was taller than him. "I'm going to pull all your hair out!"

"What'd I miss?" Kankuro asked, coming back. He looked disappointed. "Aw, man! I always miss the good part!"

"I think we'll be leaving now," Shikamaru said, steering me safely to the door. "Gaara, don't let go of your sister until we leave. I don't trust her when she's like this."

"Oh, fuck you Shikamaru!" Temari said.

"As if you hadn't already," Kankuro said. "Bye. It was nice meeting you Ino. Come again soon, okay?"

"I don't think I'll be coming back any time soon," I said as we left. Once in the car we talked.

"Oh my god, you two had sex? With each other?" I said, aware of Kankuro's innuendo. It was a disturbing thought.

"Can we please not talk about it?" Shikamaru said. "You want to go to that Italian restaurant Gaara was talking about?"

"No, I want to go home. Actually, I just want to talk with you," I said. "There's so many questions I want to ask you- like why didn't you ever mention that your ex-girlfriend is psychotic?"

"I could say the same about my current one," Shikamaru mumbled.

"What was that?" I said, smacking him on the arm. He swerved a bit.

"Ino, I'm driving!" he said. "Now, are you sure you don't want to get a bite to eat? You were practically starving back there."

"Fine. But I still want to have a serious talk," I said. "And you're paying for dinner."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"I'll start from the beginning," Shikamaru said.

"Please do," I said, biting into a huge chink of garlic bread. "I want to know _every _detail."

Shikamaru took a long sip of his drink before he started. "About a year ago, during summer vacation, my parents and I went on a cruise ship remember?"

"Yeah. You were gone from almost two weeks. I remember because my dad was partner-less and I had to play golf with him…among other boring things," I said.

"Well, I was bored too. Until I met Temari. She was another guest on the ship, and the most interesting thing there. We were immediately attracted to each other, but I didn't keep my hopes up too high because I knew she was a flirt."

"I think the word you're looking for is _whore,_" I said.

"Ino, are you going to let me tell my story or not?" Shikamaru said.

"Sorry! Please continue," I said, miming zipping my lips shut.

"There was a pool on deck, and I spotted Temari lounging on one of the chairs trying to fix her Kindle-"

"Her what?"

"Kindle. You know, that digital reading device."

"Oh, right," I said, although I still had no idea what it was. I would google it later.

"Anyways, I saw that she was having trouble so I walked over and offered my help. She kept insisting that she had everything under control, but I knew it was just an excuse. So I grabbed her Kindle and figured out how to fix it. She was grateful to me and insisted on buying me a drink. I told her that I was underage but then she smiled and told me that she loved to corrupt younger boys.

After that, we spent mostly all our time with each other. She kept me preoccupied from becoming bored on the ship. I didn't think it would ever lead to anything serious, but she taught me new things and I taught her things as well. Those two weeks were a real learning experience for the both of us."

Ewww. I didn't want to know what _those things _were, but I had a good guess what they could be and that was sickening enough.

"After the cruise ended we continued seeing each other, although we had kept it a secret in the beginning," Shikamaru said.

"Why?" I asked. In the beginning? More like the whole freakin' time because this was the first I heard of this.

"Because the whole age thing was a big issue for us. I was sixteen at the time and we couldn't even go watch a rated R movie together at the movie theatre."

"How old is Temari?"

"When I met her she had just turned nineteen," he replied.

"Well, she looks more like thirty-five with all those wrinkles she has," I said.

"Ino…," Shikamaru said, sounding irritated. "Sometimes your comments aren't welcome." I stuffed my face with more garlic bread.

"Anyway, my mom soon found out-"

"Of course, that woman is so nosy. She never lets you breathe," I commented, digging into my chicken penne alfredo with broccoli rabe. I pushed the broccoli aside, then thought better of it and decided some green would be good for me. And I needed all the strength I could get to survive through this conversation.

"And when my parents knew that we were seeing each other, it became easier to handle. I still didn't want anyone else to know, except Choji because he's my best bud," Shikamaru said.

"How considerate of you," I said sarcastically.

"Ino, you can't be jealous. Temari and I have been over for months now," he said.

"I'm not jealous. Temari looks like a troll, so obviously you didn't want anyone to know you were dating her."

"That isn't helping you case."

I shrugged, not caring. I wanted to hurt him for making me feel less mature and less amazing that the "Great Temari."

"How was the sex?" I asked, bluntly and boldly.

He wasn't expecting that. "What?"

"I bet it was incredible, wasn't it?"

"What do you want me to say? That it was the greatest experience ever and feed your jealousy?" he said, conflicted with his need to be honest and his desire to not hurt my feelings.

"No," I said, trying to hide the pain in my voice. "When your mom drove me home last week, she said that you had never had a girlfriend before, so…who's telling the truth?" I asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, I never formally introduced Temari as my girlfriend to my parents. My mom found out that I was seeing her because she eavesdropped on my phone conversation. After that, she thought that Temari was just this girl that I was trying to woo, but at least I didn't have to come up with any more lame excuses to go out and see her."

"Did your parents ever meet her?" I didn't want to say Temari's name. It was taboo.

"Yes, but not the real her," Shikamaru replied.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, confusion etched on my face.

"What I mean is that whenever Temari would come over to my house, she would dress more conservative…kinda like a Catholic school girl, but with more attitude. She used to call it 'role playing' and thought it was fun to act like a polite, prude girl in front of my parents. My parents never suspected anything else. To them, she was just a girl I passed the time with."

"She's crazy," I said with a shake of my head. "But why did she break up with you?"

"We started arguing a lot, mostly about stupid stuff, and it would always end badly. Either she would scream at me or throw whatever object was close to her at me," he said.

"And what did you do?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing. I would just leave the room."

"Why didn't _you_ break up with her?"

"Because I naively thought that we could work things out between us, but it was too much damage. And I…I loved her. Or at least I thought I did," Shikamaru said pensively. I placed my hand on top of his on the table.

"In the end, Temari was sick of all the fighting and broke up with me. And here we are now," Shikamaru said in conclusion. He gave me a warm smile. I felt guilty smiling back, because I wasn't any better than Temari. In fact, I think I was worse.

xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"So where did you and Shikamaru go after you left the movie theatre?" Sakura asked the next day during lunch.

"Well…," I said demurely, lifting my uniform shirt up a few inches.

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That can't be real!" Hinata said.

"It is," I said, putting my shirt back down. "Shikamaru got one too."

"Where's his at?" Sakura asked, biting into her pizza.

"Nowhere near his ass cheek, that's for sure," I said, laughing. "He got a deer on his back. It looks really cool. I would've taken a picture of it, but it's still not finished yet.

"I can't believe Shikamaru would go through with something like that," Hinata said.

"I can't believe _you_ would do something crazy like that, but after knowing you for so long I really shouldn't be all that surprised," Sakura said

When lunch ended, Hinata and I walked together to our Math class. She grabbed hold of my wrist and dragged me to the girl's bathroom. After making sure we were alone, she turned towards me.

"Okay, I can tell you're mad at me…but why?" I asked, taking this time to check my reflection in the mirror.

"Ino, you're going too far and honestly, there hasn't been any results in your stupid plan," Hinata said as I busied myself by fixing my hair and reapplying lip gloss.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't act ditzy with me!" she said. "As your friend, and Sakura's friend as well, I want this to stop. Please. You don't know what this guilt is doing to me."

"Why should you feel guilty? You haven't done anything wrong," I said, moving towards her and placing a comforting hand on her arm. "And neither have I."

"Yes you have!" Hinata exclaimed. Her words echoed in the quiet, empty bathroom. It felt like a slap in the face. I backed off from her, hit by the force of her words.

"What have I done?" I asked.

"You may not realize it, but you have gotten yourself in way too deep in this plan of yours. What were you thinking when you got a tattoo with Shikamaru? Didn't you think of the permanent implications? Of what he must be feeling? You mean something to him now, and I will _not _let you break up with him and ruin his happiness just to satisfy yours!"

I was silent the whole time, letting her words sink in. What she was saying was harsh, and I felt horrible for being such a selfish bitch. How could I ever hurt Shikamaru, now when we've formed such an incredible bond?

"And what about Sakura? She's your _best friend. _Haven't you noticed how depressed she's been since she ignored Sasuke because of some stupid truce you forced her to agree to?" Hinata said.

That was the finishing blow. I started crying (the not-so-pretty-red-faced crying) and slid down to the floor, hiding my face in my arms.

"I'm sorry, but this has gotten way out of hand…even you must realize that now," Hinata said. And I knew by the sound of her voice that she was on the verge of crying as well.

Hinata squatted down next to me and held me as I continued to cry. For once, she was the stronger one; the one to be so brutally honest and not be afraid of it…and I envied her for that.

xoxo-End of Chapter-xoxo

**A/N: That's the end of the seventh chapter, expect more soon! But until then, here is a sneak preview of the upcoming chapter:**

_**The next day at school I noticed that Sakura was wearing pink pearl earrings that looked oddly familiar. Then it hit me- those were the same earrings that Sasuke had shown me about a week ago at the movie theatre!**_

"_**Sak, where'd you get those earrings?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.**_

_**She touched the beautiful pearls with a shy smile on her face. "They were a gift."**_

"_**From who?"**_

"_**My father," she said, wetting her lips. I knew it was a habit of hers when she lied.**_

"_**Oh…well, that was nice of him," I said, wondering why she would lie to me about that.**_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: A lot of crazy shit is gonna go down this chapter! The intensity goes way up, the drama keeps escalating- the truth comes out! **

_Previously on the last chapter:_

"_You may not realize it, but you have gotten yourself in way too deep in this plan of yours. What were you thinking when you got a tattoo with Shikamaru? Didn't you think of the permanent implications? Of what he must be feeling? You mean something to him now, and I will not let you break up with him and ruin his happiness just to satisfy yours!"_

_I was silent the whole time, letting her words sink in. What she was saying was harsh, and I felt horrible for being such a selfish bitch. How could I ever hurt Shikamaru, now when we've formed such an incredible bond?_

"_And what about Sakura? She's your best friend. Haven't you noticed how depressed she's been since she ignored Sasuke because of some stupid truce you forced her to agree to?" Hinata said. _

_That was the finishing blow. I started crying (the not-so-pretty-red-faced crying) and slid down to the floor, hiding my face in my arms._

"_I'm sorry, but this has gotten way out of hand…even you must realize that now," Hinata said. And I knew by the sound of her voice that she was on the verge of crying as well._

_Hinata squatted down next to me and held me as I continued to cry. For once, she was the stronger one; the one to be so brutally honest and not be afraid of it…and I envied her for that._

**Chapter 8**

A week later…

It's not healthy to be feeling on the edge all the time. I'm scared shitless of what I'm going to do because Hinata's right. She always is. This plan has to stop. But how do I end it without hurting someone I've grown to care about?

"Don't break up with him," Hinata said as we walked our dogs at the park.

"I'm confused…I thought you wanted me to end my plan," I said.

"Yes, I want you to stop using him as a boy toy to make Sasuke jealous, but that doesn't mean you have to end things with him," she explained.

"But my feelings for Shikamaru are-" I said before getting cut off by Hinata.

"Your true feelings are being blocked by the misconception that you want to be with Sasuke," Hinata said.

"I _do _want to be with Sasuke. That was the whole point of my plan," I said in my defense.

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked with a raised brow. "Or have you wanted him for so long now that you haven't given yourself a chance to feel something for anyone else?"

We walked in silence for a while as I pondered over what she had just said. What did I feel for Shikamaru? Was it just friendship…or something else I couldn't explain?

"Hinata," I said, cutting into the silence, "do you thing that Sasuke would ever ask me to be his girlfriend?"

"No," she said bluntly. "I don't think it's you he wants."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because if he truly wanted you, don't you think he would've said something to you?"

"But he fought Shikamaru because of _me_. That has to mean something, right?" I said.

"And Shikamaru got a tattoo because of _you_. Doesn't that also mean something?" Hinata said. Damn. When did she get this witty? "Sasuke's _never _going to come out and say he likes you. That's the truth."

"Sasuke's like Hamlet- he's a man of inaction…but in the end he'll finally say it," I said.

"Ino, I'm trying to help you in this mess you dragged me in, but you're too damn stubborn and unappreciative of what you have," Hinata said.

"I already know I'm a horrible person for faking my feelings with Shikamaru, you don't have to keep reminding me," I said.

"You stopped faking it a looong time ago. I can tell by the happiness in your eyes whenever you two are together," Hinata said with a smile. I tried to smile back, but I was so conflicted inside.

To me, Sasuke is the perfect ideal guy. He's popular, handsome, and athletic. But beyond those words I don't know how else to describe him. Shikamaru, on the other hand, is not-so-popular, but smart and funny (in his own way), charming, honest, fiercely protective of those he cares about, and I could go on and on about him.

It seems like an easy decision, but what do I choose- my precious ideals or my feelings? Which is stronger and more important to me?

"Oh Hinata, can't you make a choice for me?" I asked.

She scoffed. "Haven't you been listening to me? I'm Team Shikamaru, as I'm sure Sakura is as well."

"I've been the worst friend to her lately. I need to - Tracy! Stop humping that man! Oh my god, sir, I'm so sorry. Ugh. Bad doggy, bad doggy!" I said, steering my dog away from the stranger.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"I think I'm finally getting the hang of this," I said as I successfully answered another algebraic equation under Shikamaru's excellent instruction. We were sitting in my kitchen, away from my mother (who was watching her over-dramatic telenovela in the living room).

"Now you should be able to ace your next test," Shikamaru said, taking a sip from his soda.

"All thanks to you- the best boyfriend ever," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Shikamaru is amazing, but could Sasuke be better? Should I put more energy into pursuing him that spending my time with Shikamaru?

"Ino, you okay?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"You seemed out of it," Shikamaru said. "Is something bothering you?"

"No, I think it's just too much math. We should stop for today. The test isn't until Thursday," I said, closing my textbook.

"You've been acting distracted lately," he said.

"I'm fine, just your usual dosage of teen anxiety," I said, trying to play it off with a smile, but it came out like a grimace. What happened to my wonderful acting skills?

"You're lying," Shikamaru said. He knows me too well. Maybe that's why I can't lie to him anymore.

He grabbed my chin in his hand and turned my face towards his. "Why don't you tell me what's really going on? What's wrong?"

"I-I can't. I just can't. At least not right now," I said, my courage faltering under his stare.

He kissed my forehead. "That's fine. When you're ready to, you can tell me," he said, always so understanding. But I don't think he'll be able to understand _this. _And that's what I'm afraid of.

"Hey kids, all done with your homework?" my mom asked as she walked to the pantry to grab a bag of crackers. Apparently it must've been commercial time.

"Yup. We were just about to go outside for a swim," I said.

"Better enjoy the last days of summer before fall kicks in," my mom said. Her words seemed to foreshadow the disastrous events that were going to happen soon.

"We will Mrs. Yamanaka," Shikamaru said.

"Okay, have fun! And Ino, don't forget to put sunscreen on, you know how easy your skin gets sunburned. I better go back and see if Sergio finally discovered that his mother killed his lover," my mom said.

"Damn, that show sounds intense," Shikamaru said once my mom left.

"It is. Every Monday through Friday from four to five," I said. "C'mon, let's go swimming before the sun goes down."

We went to the small cabana outside and changed into our swimsuits (in separate rooms of course). As I was putting on my strapless purple bikini, I couldn't help but inspect my body in the mirror and make comparisons with Temari's Victoria Secret body. My tattoo was still there, reminding me it was never going to go away. And that's okay, because I love it - it's a part of me now.

When I was done, I gathered my long hair into a messy bun and went to the pool area. Shikamaru was already there, rubbing sunscreen lotion onto his shoulders and arms. The sight of his bare chest and back was incredible. His deer tattoo was finally complete and I've got to say that it boosted his sex appeal.

"Need some help?" I asked, picking up the sunscreen bottle and coming to stand behind him. I squeezed out a quarter-sized glob of sunscreen and began applying it onto his back. The skin there was muscular and smooth.

"If you weren't my girlfriend, I'd say you were checking me out just now," Shikamaru said with a smile in his voice.

"Ha! And what if I wasn't your girlfriend?" I asked.

"Then I would feel completely self-conscious," he said. I laughed. "Your turn now."

I turned around as he massaged the sunscreen onto my back. I tried to think of something else besides the touch of his hands on my skin, but I couldn't. When he was done, I saw down on a recliner to finish applying sunscreen onto the rest of my body, but Shikamaru unexpectedly did it for me. I tensed up as his hands slid up my calves to my thighs; moved down the length of my arms, and ended on my stomach.

There was a heat rising from within me, burning every inch of my body and leaving me breathless. My eyes were locked with Shikamaru's, and slowly our lips crashed onto each others. There was an explosion of heat that ran through my blood as Shikamaru pulled me closer towards him and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he continued to kiss my mouth, my jaw, my neck.

Just when I thought I was going to burst into flames, Shikamaru dropped me into the pool. The cold water cleared my senses. "Wha-?" I said, spitting out chlorinated water that had accidentally gotten into my mouth.

Shikamaru smiled at me before diving in, creating a huge splash. I swam to where he was and dunked his head underwater. "You dork, why'd you push me in?" I said.

He grabbed one of my legs and pulled me underwater as well. When we both resurfaced he called for a truce. "Fine, but only because you're a great kisser," I said, leaning in for a smooch, but he turned his head at the last second.

"I thought you were going to be a 'self-respecting girl who wasn't going to be making out 24/7?'" Shikamaru said with a satisfying smirk. I laughed.

"I don't even take myself serious, why should you?" I said, lacing my fingers around his neck.

"Because someone has to, and it might as well be me," he replied.

"Well, you can be serious for the both of us," I said.

"Ok then, I seriously think you look hot in that bikini," Shikamaru said, kissing me. I responded back just as fervently, feeling the heat return to my body. It was everything- his lips, his skin, his hair, his smell- all of it was so enticing and wonderful. And I wanted more…but I knew I shouldn't, that it was all fake. But why did it feel so real? Why did my heart beat so fast every time he touched me?

FIFTY MINUTES LATER…

I was drying myself with my towel and taking secret peeks at Shikamaru's incredible physique. The water glistened on his tan skin, amidst a background of the setting sun. He came over to where I was drying off and wrapped his arms around my waist before giving me a kiss on my collarbone.

"You just can't keep your hands off me, can you?" I said with a smile.

"And you just can't stop being a pervert, can you?" Shikamaru said teasingly.

"Aha! So that means you must've been looking at me while I was looking at you," I said.

"So you just admitted that you were looking at me," he said with a triumphant smirk.

"Let's just both admit we were being perverts and call it a day," I said. "I'm hungry. How about you?"

"Starving."

"Good. Stay over for dinner."

The next day at school I noticed that Sakura was wearing pink pearl earrings that looked oddly familiar. Then it hit me- those were the same earrings that Sasuke had shown me about a week ago at the movie theatre!

"Sak, where'd you get those earrings?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

She touched the beautiful pearls with a shy smile on her face. "They were a gift," she said.

"From who?"

"My father," she said, wetting her lips. I knew it was a habit of hers when she lied.

"Oh…well, that was nice of him," I said, wondering why she would lie to me about that.

"My father's a nice man," Sakura said.

"Yes he is. And generous too." I felt an arm encircle my waist. Shikamaru.

"Hey," he said, smiling down at me. I could smell his still-minty breath and the crisp spiciness of his aftershave.

"Hey," I replied. "Are you planning on being a good boyfriend and walk me to class?"

"That's the plan. You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah. Bye Sakura, I'll see you at lunch!" I said as Shikamaru held my hand and we walked along the crowded hallways.

"So the Homecoming Dance is next week," Shikamaru said. My eyes widened.

"Is it really? I've been so busy lately, it completely slipped my mind," I said. Shit, Ino! You're losing it! Homecoming is important, how could you forget?

"Really? I thought is was all girls could think about for weeks," Shikamaru said.

"Well, yeah, usually," I said. Under different circumstances.

"We should go. I'll promise to be the perfect date," Shikamaru said. "I'll even buy you a real flower corsage with the petals falling off and everything."

"Is that how you ask a girl to a dance? Apparently you've still got a lot to learn in the art of asking," I said.

"What did I do wrong this time?" he said, rolling his eyes.

"First of all, you never properly asked me-"

"Yes I did."

"No, the words 'we should go' don't suffice and, yes, I used a vocab word from my English class just now, I'm very proud of myself. Second of all, just because we are in a relationship doesn't mean you should kill the romance. It's always a nice, sweet gesture to be asked out by your boyfriend...in the proper way of course," I said.

Shikamaru just stared at me, an incredulous look on his face. "Is there a handbook written about this?" he said.

"Oh, I'm sure there is," I said. We reached my classroom with about two minutes for the first bell to ring. "I'm the most bitchiest girlfriend ever, aren't I?"

"Hmm, you're probably in the top three," Shikamaru said teasingly.

"I'm awful. You should just break up with me," I said, only half teasing. It didn't take a genius to know that Shikamaru really liked me.

"Nah, I would miss our little bantering moments like this," he said.

"Is that the only thing you'd miss?" I asked.

"I'd miss this," he said, cupping my chin in his hands and kissing me softly on the lips. The bell rand and startled us. "Well, I'll see you this afternoon Ino."

"Okay, bye Shika," I said with a small wave of my hand before entering my classroom. I sat down in my seat, organizing my thoughts. Why did Sakura have those earrings? Did Sasuke give them to her? And if he did, why? And how the hell am I going to find a dress for Homecoming in seven days?

When Sasuke sat down in his seat, I decided to be bold. "Hey Sasuke," I said.

"Oh, hey," he said. I wrinkled my nose at his uninterested greeting.

"They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I think some prefer pearls. Why do you think that is?" I asked him. He looked at me quizzically.

"Pearls are more rare," he replied. "They have more sentimental value. Besides, diamonds have become so stereotypical."

"Whatever happened to the pearl earrings you had on loan last weekend?" I asked.

"Just that- they were on loan, so I returned them," he said.

"That...wasn't the answer I was expecting," I said.

"Well, I'm sorry to have ruined your expectations, but I need to pay attention now," Sasuke said, turning his hear towards the whiteboard. I was taken aback by the iciness of his manner.

At lunch I couldn't help by stare at Sakura's earrings. The cafeteria lights reflected off the pearl's sheen. Everyone was complimenting her on them and I seriously contemplated on fake choking on my sandwich to get attention. Pathetic, I know.

"So I bought my Homecoming dress last weekend and the alterations should be done by this afternoon" Fumiyo said. Oh thank god, a change of subject!

"What color is it?" I asked, making a mental note to not get the same color as hers.

"I can't tell you. It's a surprise," she said.

"Oh c'mon, give us a hint!" I coaxed.

"Nope." She pantomimed zipping her mouth shut.

"I still have to find a dress," I said, resting my chin on my hand.

"What? I thought you would've bought one weeks ago," Sakura said.

"I've been busy," I replied. Hinata made a noise that sounded a lot like a chuckle and a snort.

"You can always borrow a dress of mine, if you want," Sakura offered.

"Thanks, I will if I don't end up finding anything," I said.

As Hinata and I walked to our math class at the end of the day, I told her what had been plaguing my mind. "I think there's something going on between Sakura and Sasuke, but I'm not completely sure," I confessed to her.

"What makes you think that?" she asked.

I told her of what I knew. "I still think I should investigate."

"Oh no, I'm not going to play spy with you. I'm done being your accomplice Ino. I feel like a damn criminal."

"You always have to suck the fun out of everything."

"It wouldn't be the first time you told me that," Hinata said as we entered our classroom.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I met up with Shikamaru in the parking lot and greeted him with a kiss. "How was your day?" I asked, fiddling with one of the buttons on his uniform shirt.

"Alright. And yours?"

"Splendid."

We got inside his car and as he drove, I noticed he was heading to a different direction from my house. "Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"It's a surprise," Shikamaru said with a secretive smirk.

"Ugh, I hate surprises."

"Trust me, you'll like this one."

A few minutes later and we ended up at the park. I looked at Shikamaru for an explanation. "Decided to relive some old childhood memories again?" I asked sarcastically.

"This isn't the surprise Ino," Shikamaru said and blindfolded me with...well, I don't know with what, but I was praying it was clean.

"Oh crap, I'm going to walk right into a deathtrap so you can finally get rid of me," I said light-heartedly.

"You're not that easy to get rid of," Shikamaru said just as light-heartedly. He held my hand and gently placed his other hand on the small of my back to steer me to the 'surprise destination.'

"I feel like I'm going to fall...oh, I hate not seeing where I'm going...ugh, I smell dog shit!" I said.

"Oops, I didn't see that right there," Shikamaru said, steering me away from the awful smell. "It's okay, I think only your left foot stepped on it."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, ready to remove the blindfold and whatever stinky mush was stuck on the bottom of my black pumps.

"Relax, I'm just kidding. We're almost there by the way," he said.

I sighed in relief. "Good," I said.

"Okay, we're here. Looks like they actually pulled through," Shikamaru said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let me show you."

Shikamaru untied the cloth that had blindfolded me and revealed to me a beautifully set-up picnic. The blanket was laid out underneath a tree, giving us shade and it was surrounded by a bed of different bright-colored flowers that gave off a wonderful aroma. It was the definition of romantic.

I was momentarily speechless. "H-How did you manage to do all this? It's so beautiful," I said.

"Kiba and Naruto owed me a favor so they came here during their study period and set everything up. I gave them money to buy the food and told them where to set up," Shikamaru said, sitting down on the blanket and gesturing for me to join him.

"Thank you," I said, kissing him on the cheek. "But, why? You're not a spontaneous guy."

"I'm not. Everything I do has a reason. And the reason for doing all this is because I wanted to make you happy," he said. "You weren't too ecstatic when I asked you to the dance, so this is my way of being that romantic guy you read in your girl books."

In that moment I was so happy I could have cried from joy. But I didn't want to ruin this with my tears so I enjoyed the moment with him. I realized it didn't get any better than this, so why bother exerting my energy on Sasuke any longer?

I hadn't thought of him in a few hours (sometimes days). My mind was already programmed to focus on Shikamaru and I always anticipated seeing him again.

Is this what love is? Is it really so complicated and simple at the same time? Does it really just creep into your life and consume your thoughts without you even realizing it?

And it was at that moment, when I was laughing at something Shikamaru had said and staring into the depths of his dark eyes, that I realized I was completely and hopelessly in love with him.

There was a wonderful clarity that overcame me, and all of a sudden everything around me changed- the sky became more bluer, the flowers looked brighter, even the macaroni salad I was eating tasted better. And Shikamaru was the most perfect, handsomest guy I had ever laid my eyes on.

He was lying down, staring up at the clouds. After a few minutes of watching him, I began to wonder if he had forgotten I was there. Until he spoke.

"Sometimes life gets so hectic or too out of control, and I just lie down and look up at the sky until I almost feel myself drifting away like the clouds," he said quietly.

"If only it was that easy to escape from our problems," I replied. I tried to puch back my own problematic feelings. "How does it feel...to be drifting in the sky?" I asked.

Shikamaru patted to the grass next to him. "Experience it for yourself," he said.

As I laid down beside him I felt a small recognition- that this is how Shikamaru saw the world. What he was seeing, I was seeing too. The sky was so enormous, filled with infinite possibilities. The clouds were always moving and changing shape. How calming it was to just become weightless and float in the sky with nothing to hold you down.

I lost track of time, until the warmth of Shikamaru's body brought me back. I turned my head in his direction and smiled. "That was amazing," I said.

He was leaning on his elbow, his chin resting on his palm. He looked so relaxed and happy. "It's even better when you see it from the roof," he said.

"Oh god, you a_re _trying to kill me," I said.

Shikmaru began tickling me. "This would be the easiest way to kill you, and probably the most fun," he teased.

"S-Stop it," I laughed.

He did, but he didn't lost the mischievous smirk on his face. He was staring at me as I caught my breath, his fingers softly strumming my ribcage.

"You're exquisite, did you know that?" he said.

"Exquisite? Hmm, I would've settled with 'beautiful' but exquisite sounds better," I said, snuggling closer to him.

Gradually our lips met and then our tongues. I straddled Shikamaru's hips as I playfully bit his ear and let my hands roam his hair. His hands were fixated on my waist and the curve of my bottom as he kissed my neck.

I was glad that we were at a far away distance from the actual park because no one (especially snot-nosed kids) could see us.

We continued to kiss, then Shikamaru gently rolled me over so he was above me. "I liked it better when I was on top," I said, the innuendo not going unnoticed as Shikamaru smiled.

He kissed my forehead, my nose, my lips, my chin, leaving a trail of kisses going down in a straight line until he reached my cleavage. I wanted him to do it and he hesitated for a few seconds before kissing the soft skin in between the swells of my breasts. I felt a quivering shiver run through my body and a warm heat tantalized me. Then his lips were on my mouth again.

Time passed (I'm not sure exactly how much) and we stopped our passionate kissing - mainly because something bit me on the leg and started irritating me, although Shikamaru told me to stop scratching it.

"C'mon, let's go for a walk. That'll distract you from the bite," he said, helping me get back up. "There's a stone path right up ahead."

"I hate bugs! They're disgusting and-"

"Ino, just enjoy the walk."

"Am I the only one that finds it weird that the park runs into a forest?" I said.

"I think it's cool," Shikamaru said. "I can't imagine this park in a constrained lot. If the city decides to expand it, it can just cut more trees to make space for a bigger recreation area."

"But then we hurt the environment by destroying trees."

"This coming from the girl who never recycles."

"Yes I do! I recycle shoes. I donate my old ones to make room for new ones."

"And I'm sure the world is a better place because of that. A bigger park has benefits, you know. It would mean more kids would be able to play and run around so there would be less obesity," Shikamaru said.

"Whatever, I still think it's weird. A creepy old guy could be lurking in this forest, just waiting to lure a kid into his trap," I said.

"Sometimes your mind is just a bit too imaginative," he said, putting his arm around me.

Minutes passed and I could feel the tension in Shikamaru and I noticed that he kept opening and closing his mouth, as if he had something to say but didn't know how. It just made my nerves jitter. I felt like somehow I _knew. _

"You know, you really are different from what I expected," he said, reaching out to grab my hand. I hoped he wouldn't notice how sweaty it was.

"Y-Yea, you too," I stammered. Okay, maybe I did let things go _too_ far. "You're not as lazy as I thought you were." He chuckled and squeezed my hand gently. We continued walking down the stone path.

"Ino…," he said after a while.

"Yes?" I said, my heart jumping. I knew what was going to happen next and I hated it.

"I know I'm not the most romantic guy in the world, but I'm very eloquent. So I'm just going to go and say it, and please don't try to interrupt me," he said. Oh no. This isn't good. I think I just entered my panic mode.

"Shikamaru, I-"

"No. Let me say what I have to say. Ino, this may sound crazy and sudden because we've been 'mortal enemies' since childhood. I don't know who coined that, Sakura maybe. But anyway, we've never really gotten along well, but after these past few weeks, everything's changed and….I think I love you. No, I _know _in my heart that I do. I do love you," he said, looking earnestly down at me.

I must've been silent for a whole because Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows. "Did you hear what I just said?" he asked.

"Y-Yes," I said shakily, releasing my hand from his. My heart was thudding painfully in my chest, like if I had a dam on the brink of bursting if I didn't let it all out.

The words "I love you" had never sounded so beautiful, not even in the old black-and-white romance films. This was real and Shikamaru was staring me in the eyes with pure wonder and complete abandonment of self-conscious. This was Shikamaru being so amazingly honest.

"What are you feeling?" he asked, his hands gently gripping my shoulders.

It had taken all my strength to keep that dam from breaking, but I couldn't keep it together any longer. I felt the tears fall.

"What's wrong Ino? Why are you crying?" Shikamaru asked, brushing away some of the tears with his thumb.

"I have to be honest with you Shikamaru," I said.

"You don't love me back. That's it, isn't it?"

I cried even harder and shook my head. "No, it's not that. I do love you Shikamaru. I love you so much, and you deserve to know the truth. I owe you that much."

"What is it? What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm talking about the real reason I wanted to be your girlfriend. It was all a plot to make Sasuke jealous so he would ask me out. In the beginning I pretended to like you, but somehow along the way I realized that I had stopped pretending and that my feelings for you were real," I said.

Shikamaru stayed silent, so I took it as a cue to go on.

"You were nice to me, and fun to be around with," I smiled wryly. "A good friend, that's what you've been to me. But I was blinded by the feelings I thought I had for Sasuke. I was too caught up in my own game of lies to realize what I already had in front of me. I've been so stupid."

If I had naively thought there would be sympathy from Shikamaru's part, I was wrong.

"You used me as a pawn in this game of yours? I was just an instrument you played to get Sasuke jealous...and you know what hurts the most? You did play me, you fucking played me," Shikamaru said, his face contorting into a mask of anguish. No, he wasn't mad at me, I don't think he hated me either, but this pain he felt was far more worse.

"I-I'm so sorry Shikamaru! This all got screwed up. I never imagined I would actually fa- No, listen to me! Where are you going?'' I said, following after him. I clutched the sleeve of his shirt and forced him to stop, but he wouldn't even look at me.

"I don't want to hear it. You're a damn great liar Ino, and I know you'll find an excuse for this like you do every time. You lied your way into this relationship...and you tricked me into loving you. You wanted me to love you, well, now that you have it you can keep it because I don't want anything from you," he said.

A sob escaped from my mouth and I shuddered to hear how broken and child-like it sounded. I covered my mouth with both my hands to stop the terrible sounds from breaking out.

How could I've done this? How could I hurt Shikamaru like this? I know I deserve all of this, but it hurts so much; it hurts so much to hurt the one I love. And he's breaking my heart with every cruel word that comes out of his mouth.

I'm sorry," I finally managed to gasp out in between my sobs. I wanted to let him know that I regretted everything I did, that above all else, I loved him.

He finally looked at me, his eyes cold and distant, but filled with confliction. "I was a fool to believe that your intentions were ever sincere," he said and walked away. This time I didn't try to stop him. I let him go, knowing that no matter what I said, it wouldn't change anything. I had lost him and it was no one's fault but mine.

I stood there for a few minutes, trying to control my sobs. Shikamaru was gone and I was alone.

xoxoxoxo~End of Chapter~xoxoxoxo

**A/N: A depressing ending to a dramatic chapter. Poor Ino, but we all knew it was going to end in disaster. The next chapter has even more drama and surprises, here's a sneak peek!**

**Sneak Peek of Chapter Nine:**

_**"Nothing. His mom doesn't know where he is and he isn't answering his cell phone," mom said. **_

_**Oh my god oh my god ohmygodohmygodohmygod!**_

_**"Did he say anything to you? Of where he might go?" mom asked. I shook my head, too dumbfounded to speak. **_

_**My dad sighed and dialed Shikaku's number. "No, Ino has no idea where he might be..."**_

_**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**_

_**Shit! I always suspected that one of my own lies would come back to haunt me. I just didn't think it'd be like this. The premise of Shikamaru's and Sasuke's fight had been based on a lie, and I sure as hell wasn't going to reveal it right now.**_

_**"Now I'm convinced more than ever that Shikamaru never liked you, that he was just using you to get closer to Sakura. But now that we're together, I think he broke up with you because he realized he didn't need you anymore. And for that I'm truly sorry," he said. **_

_**I almost wanted to laugh, it was ridiculous. Sasuke felt sorry for **_**me**_**?**_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! We've been so busy and unmotivated, but now we are back! Hope you like the latest chapter :)**

_Previously on the last chapter:_

_How could I've done this? How could I hurt Shikamaru like this? I know I deserve all of this, but it hurts so much; it hurts so much to hurt the one I love. And he's breaking my heart with every cruel word that comes out of his mouth._

_I'm sorry," I finally managed to gasp out in between my sobs. I wanted to let him know that I regretted everything I did, that above all else, I loved him._

_He finally looked at me, his eyes cold and distant, but filled with confliction. "I was a fool to believe that your intentions were ever sincere," he said and walked away. This time I didn't try to stop him. I let him go, knowing that no matter what I said, it wouldn't change anything. I had lost him and it was no one's fault but mine._

_I stood there for a few minutes, trying to control my sobs. Shikamaru was gone and I was alone._

Chapter 9

I knocked on Hinata's door, knowing that I didn't want to go home or else I would end up curling myself into a ball and continue crying until my eyes were raw.

Her little sister, Hanabi, opened the door. "Oh, it's you," she said with disappointment. "I thought it was the pizza delivery guy. It's been more than 30 minutes so my pizza is free! Yay!"

"Whatever," I said, entering the front hall. "Is Hinata here?" I asked, taking off my sunglasses.

"Yeah, she's upstairs in her room. Hey, are you alright? You look like you were cr-"

I quickly climbed up the stairs, dodging Hanabi's question. "Hinata, I'm coming in!" I said, opening her bedroom door. It took her one look to realize that something was wrong. She stood up from her desk and rushed over to me, hugging me in her arms. I nestled my head on the crook of her neck and began crying again.

"What's wrong Ino?" she asked, resting her chin on top of my head. Then I felt her tense up as she slowly figured out the reason why. "Oh Ino! You finally told him- ugh, I knew this would end in disaster!"

"I _knooow_!" I cried "But you know I never listen."

Hinata let me go and guided me to her bed. I grabbed her tissue box from her nightstand and wiped my eyes. "You're going to drink some tea to calm you down and tell me everything that happened," she said, sitting down next to me. I nodded my head as I blew my nose.

"Hanabi! Make some tea for me and Ino!" Hinata yelled.

"Hell no! Make if yourself!" she yelled back.

"Ugh, she's so annoying," Hinata said to me. "Please Hanabi? I'll pay you!"

"Twenty dollars!"

"No, ten!"

"Fine!"

"What if she poisons it?" I asked.

"I don't think she would…or would she?" Hinata said. I laughed weakly, my tears subsiding. "Now tell me, what happened?"

"Well," I sniffled, "Shikamaru took me to the park and surprised me with a beautifully laid out picnic." I was smiling at the memory.

"And?" Hinata said.

"He asked me to Homecoming…the proper way this time. I was so happy. I hadn't realized how much I actually wanted to go with him until that moment. We…umm, kissed…and then we took a walk around the park.

"Everything felt too good to be true, like it wasn't really happening to me but to some other girl named Ino. I guess I was feeling guilty for being so happy. And then that's when it happened," I said.

"You told him the truth?" Hinata said.

"No, not yet," I said, licking my lips to re-moisten them. "Shikamaru confessed his feelings to me. He told me he loved me."

"What?" Hinata's eyes widened. "H-How did that happen? You've only been going out for two weeks!"

"Well, he was sure of his feelings. You know how serious Shikamaru is," I replied. "And there I was, the world's cruelest faker, about to watch everything fall apart. Once I opened my mouth, all the guilt I had inside melted away, but it was hurting me as it was hurting him too."

I grabbed another tissue to wipe my eyes and looked at Hinata for comfort. "Shikamaru rejected me…as if I were the dirtiest scum that had ever existed. The look in his eyes was pure disgust. And I don't blame him- I feel so disgusted with myself!" I cried out, burying my head in Hinata's pillow.

Minutes later, I heard the door open and I could smell the sweet aroma of peppermint tea. "Here, drink this. It will make you feel better," Hinata said, offering me a warm mug. I took it from her hands and sipped from it, my tongue burning from the heat.

"I've never seen him so angry before," I commented after a moment of silence.

"He_ is_ a guy. They're prone to anger and violence. Too much damn testosterone," Hinata said, drinking her tea like a delicate lady.

"I'm not here to bash on guys," I replied.

"I know. You're here for my help….and I don't know how to. All I can do is be here for you and be a good friend," she said.

"That's more that I could ask for right now," I said.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The second I got home I was ambushed by both my parents. For one startling moment I thought they had found out about the break up.

"Were you with Shikamaru just now?" my mom asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"And why didn't anybody bother to tell me that he was your boyfriend?" my dad said.

Whoa. It was too much to handle. "I just came from Hinata's house. Why? What happened to Shikamaru?" I said. I ignored dad's question.

"Nothing. His mom doesn't know where he is and he isn't picking up his cell phone," mom said.

Oh my god oh my god ohmygodohmygodohmygod!

"Did he say anything to you? Of where he might go?" mom asked. I shook my head, too dumbfounded to speak.

My dad sighed and dialed Shikaku's number. "No, Ino has no idea where he might be..." He walked towards the office room.

"Mom," I whispered, touching her arm.

"What is it honey?" she asked.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but I did something bad. Something that made Shikamaru so angry at me," I confessed.

She looked alarmed. "Ino, what did you do?"

I fought back tears. "I lied to him from the beginning, about everything."

"But why?" mom asked.

"Because I thought no one would get hurt…and now I'm the one that hurts the most," I cried into her arms.

"Oh, Ino," my mom said softly, caressing my hair.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

When I woke up the next morning, everything from yesterday came rushing back to me. I quickly stood up from my bed and went downstairs to the kitchen where my parents were sitting down drinking coffee.

"Did Shikamaru come home? Is he okay?" I asked.

"Yes, he came home late last night, or rather I should say early this morning," my dad said.

"Where was he? Did he say anything about me?" I interrogated him.

"I don't know. Shikaku only called me to let me know that Shikamaru had come home safely," he said.

"Oh, thank god," I said. "I was so worried."

"Ino, you never asked me for my permission to go out with Shikamaru," my dad said, his tone serious.

"Would you have given it to me?" I asked.

"Perhaps. If I knew that he'd make you happy," he replied. "Does he make you happy?"

"Yeah, he does."

"Then...well...you should go to school now. I don't want you to be late," he said.

My mom had stayed silent the whole time, watching my reaction. And she gave me a ride to school without asking any questions.

"Bye," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Wait...," she said. I looked at her. "He'll come around, Ino, believe me. If he's anything like his father, then he'll forgive you. Just give him time, okay sweetie?"

I nodded my head and gave her a kiss before leaving the car. I walked to my locker, saying hi to my classmates and smiling at them. I felt like such a fake, but at least it was better than crying again. I spotted Sakura by my locker.

"Sakura. Hey, what's up?" I said, noticing her anxiety. "Is everything okay?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," she said. "Hinata told me what happened between you and Shikamaru."

My eyes widened. "What did she tell you?"

"That he broke up with you," Sakura said. "Im so sorry Ino. I never thought he'd be such a jerk-off."

"I'm okay," I stammered. "But what about you? You look like you're going to the gallows."

"This hallway is too crowded. Can we go to the copy room where we made the truce? It seems like an appropriate place," she said.

"Sure," I said, grabbing a few books out of my locker. "Lead the way."

Once there, Sakura started pacing, which was NOT a good sign. Umm...I'm just going to say it the best way I know how to," she said.

"You're kind of freaking me out. You don't have some sort of incurable disease, do you?" I asked.

"Oh, God no. It's just that, uh, Sasuke and I have been secretly going out," Sakura said..

"What? Since when?" I asked.

"About a week ago," she replied. "I was so scared to tell you because of that truce we made, but I've been feeling so guilty. I didn't want to risk our friendship over a guy, but he makes me happy and I'm only hoping you can be happy for me too."

Happy- that word's been popping up a lot lately as if it's mocking me. I sighed and looked at Sakura. "You're my best friend, of course I want you to be happy. That truce was stupid,"I admitted.

I felt a bit sentimental that the person I exhausted all my energy into trying to get attention from already had his eyes set on someone else. My plan was just a waste. But I really was happy for Sakura; she deserved him.

"You have to tell me how it happened," I said.

"Haha. I'll tell you and Hinata at lunch. She still doesn't know because I didn't want her to be caught in the middle," Sakura said.

Crap. I'm such a bad friend. I'm a bad person, period.

The bell rang and we went our separate ways. I entered my history class and immediately spotted Sasuke already in his seat, texting (no doubt) Sakura.

"Congrats, Sakura told me," I said. "So does that mean it's not a big secret anymore?"

"Let's just say we still want to keep it private. I don't like flaunting my relationships like other people do," Sasuke said, aiming it at me.

"Well, apparently Sakura didn't get the memo, since she was flaunting those pearl earrings yesterday," I retorted. "And if you must know, Shikamaru and I broke up. You would've found out eventually by how fast gossip spreads at this school."

"I don't really like Shikamaru, but you do, so I'm sorry that you two broke up," he said, not sounding at all sincere.

"But why don't you like him?" I asked.

"Because he was trying to take Sakura away from me," Sasuke said.

My eyes bulged out in shock. "What?"

"Yeah, that's what our fight was about. Sakura had been ignoring me for days and when I saw her talking to him, he would always be red-faced and nervous. I knew something was up," Sasuke explained.

Shit! I always suspected that one of my own lies would come back to haunt me. I just didn't think it'd be like this. The premise of Shikamaru's and Sasuke's fight had been based on a lie, and I sure as hell wasn't going to reveal it right now. I should never have told Shikamaru that Sakura liked him, that was such a horrible lie.

"Now I'm convinced more than ever that Shikamaru never liked you, that he was just using you to get closer to Sakura. But now that we're together, I think he broke up with you because he realized he didn't need you anymore. And for that I'm truly sorry," he said.

I almost wanted to laugh, it was ridiculous. Sasuke felt sorry for _me_?

"Have you talked to Sakura about this?" I asked.

"I tried to, but everytime I asked her why she had been ignoring me she said she couldn't talk about it," he said. What he didn't now is that the truce was the reason why Sakura had been acting different with him, not because of Shikamaru.

As the teacher began class I thought to myself- what had I ever seen in Sasuke? Besides his good looks, of course. His charm was lost to me, his smiles dull, his character flawed with mundane and lifeless personality. Gone was the exhilarating rush I felt for him. No, I do not envy Sakura one bit.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxox

The cafeteria was filled with loud chatter, and even though I was surrounded by friend I still felt lonely. Meanwhile, Sakura had been filling us in on her secret relationship. Apparently after the movie ended (this was about a week ago, the day of mine and Shikamaru's one week anniversary) Sakura had said goodbye to everybody and was walking to her car when she heard someone call her name. She turned around and there was Sasuke, holding out a black jewelry box. Well, Sakura was shocked!

Sasuke said that he was tired of being ignored by her and confessed his feeling. Sakura was deeply conflicted but decided she'd be stupid if she didn't follow her heart.

"Well, I'm glad someone had a happy ending," I said. Hinata had been suspiciously silent the whole time. "Don't tell me you're in a secret relationship too?" I said.

"No, it's just that I've been thinking," she said.

"About what?" Sakura probed her.

"I've got two of the craziest friends ever who are so brave when it comes to love," Hinata said.

"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment," I said.

"Both of you take chances...and I think-"

"Oh my god, say it!" Sakura said excitedly, jumping in her seat.

"I think it's time I tell Naruto how I feel about him," Hinata said. Sakura and I clapped.

"Finally!" I said.

"Tell him now, before you lose the nerve to go up to him," Sakura said.

Hinata took a few breaths before nodding her head and standing up. There was a fierceness in her eyes that changed her whole appearance and honestly...she looked like an intimidating, bad-ass girl. Watch out Naruto, cause here she comes!

Her walk was purposeful and graceful as she made her way to where Naruto was- leaning against the wall with his hands crossed behind his head and laughing at his own joke with his friends.

"She's actually going to do it!" Sakura said.

"Naruto better not be an idiot and mess this up," I commented.

"Oh, he won't. Or I'll beat him up if he does," Sakura replied.

As Hinata approached Naruto his whole countenance changed. It was as if he were a blind man seeing color for the first time. He looked at Hinata with awe and stood up straighter. A smile took over his face.

We couldn't hear anything from where we sat but we could see their facial expressions, which was more than enough. Hinata initiated the conversation, with Naruto's group of friends listening in. Damn she was fearless!

They continued talking until Hinata said something and his friends went "Oooohh!" as Naruto himself stood there with his mouth open in surprise. Naruto quickly recovered and wore his goofy grin again and said something to Hinata that made her smile. They went on talking until Sakura and I realized she was going to stay there the whole lunch period.

"Yet another happy ending," I said, resting my chin on my hand.

"Don't be so pessimistic. It's not like you," Sakura said.

"You're right...it's just that I loved Shikamaru. I still do," I confessed.

"You what? Why didn't you say that before?"

"Because I didn't realize it until yesterday."

"When he broke up with you? Ugh, I'm so going to kill Shikamaru! First he breaks up with you for no apparent reason, and then he breaks your heart," she said.

I broke his too, I wanted to say.

"Have you seen him at all today?" she asked.

"No, I think he's trying to avoid me. Have _you_ seen him?" I asked.

"Just a glimpse of him in the hallway," she replied.

"How was he? How did he look?"

"The same."

"Oh.."

"Don't worry about him. You're better off without him."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The days wore on. Hinata and Naruto were unofficially a couple, but any day now they would make it official. Sakura and Sasuke were slowly making their relationship public. The four of them were going to double date for the Homecoming Dance. When they asked if I wanted to go I said no. When Kiba offered to take me (as friends only, he said) I still said no.

As for Shikamaru, I only caught small glimpses of him and every time he had the same expression. His eyes were partially lidded, his mouth set in a tight line. I wanted to reach out to him, call out his name and tell him how much I love him, that I wanted to start fresh again.

But that sort of thing only works in the movies. In real life, he'll never forgive me or give me a second chance because honestly I wouldn't even give myself a second chance.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

It was the night of the dance and I was in my room listening to Adele, comfortable in my froggie pajamas. Earlier I had helped Hinata and Sakura get ready. The both of them had looked stunning and so happy. I told them to have fun and dance the night away.

I was lying flat on my back, staring at my ceiling and trying so hard not to feel sorry for myself. Well, obviously that wasn't working.

Maybe I should've taken Kiba up on his offer...? Oh, who am I kidding? I'd still be having a miserable time. What I really want is Shikamaru.

Go ahead Adele, set fire to the rain. That's the only way you can take this pain away from me.

I sighed. I rolled over on to my side, on the verge of crying. Instead I saw the stars out my window. The lights were off in my room so the stars shone bright And there were small clouds floating in the night sky.

Then I remembered what Shikamaru had said- that it was better to look up at the sky from a roof. It had sounded crazy but that was mainly because I was too scared at the thought of it. What if I fell? And I could never venture it on my own. But with him by my side...it'd be magical.

I sighed again. I looked at my alarm clock. 9:17 pm. A little less that two hours before the dance would be over.

A feeling came over me. Sitting alone and hurting never accomplished anything. If I wanted to get Shikamaru back I had to be the brave girl like always and do something about it.

I put on my sneakers and very quietly walked down the stairs. My parents were in the living room watching a movie. I crawled behind the couch so they wouldn't see me and grabbed my mom's car keys from the kitchen counter. I crawled to the front door and slowly opened it, inch by inch, until I could crawl out of it. Just like that I sneaked out of the house.

I stood up, let out a sigh of relief and patted myself on the back. But I wasn't done yet. I walked to the driveway and got in my mom's car, readjusting the seat.

It wasn't until I was on the road that I noticed I couldn't see anything. What the hell? "Why aren't the reflectors working?" I said to myself. Then I remembered. I hadn't turned on the headlights. Major oops.

My driving wasn't superb (I'll give it a B+) but at least I managed to get to Shikamaru's house in one piece.

I looked for the tree by Shikamaru's bedroom window and was horrified to see how tall it was. By his window I could see where the bars had been before Shikamaru had them removed. His mom was too crazy to compete with in that department.

I grabbed hold of the lowest branch, which reached me at neck level, and pulled myself up by flipping backwards and landing as if I were on a gymnastic bar. In my crouched position on the branch I hugged the trunk of the tree for support and reached for the next branch, slowly lifting my body and climbing up. I was almost there, I just had to be calm and slow.

Once at Shikamaru's window level I began to scoot up towards the window and peered inside. The light was on in his room but he wasn't there. His parents were gone because I didn't see their car outside (not to mention the rest of the lights in the house were off). So where the hell was he?

Then I made the mistake of looking down. Terrified, I slid the window pane to the right and was glad that Shikamaru had left his window unlocked (Although it was stupid of him. What if female rapists came in? Unlikely, but not impossible). I opened the window all the way and in my haste to get off the tree I stumbled on the window ledge and fell ungracefully onto the floor with a loud _THUD_!

"Oww! Damn window," I said, rubbing my head.

I heard a commotion coming from Shikamaru's bathroom and the door opened. Steam poured out, slowly revealing a bare-chested Shikamaru with a towel haphazardly wrapped around his waist and holding a ...loofah back brush?

We were both equally shocked but my reaction was a lot better than his. "What the hell are you doing here Ino?" he yelled, throwing down the loofah. "How'd you even get in here?" Then he noticed the open window. "You climbed in? Are you crazy? You could've gotten hurt. Are you hurt?"

There. For one moment, he actually cared about me.

"Hi," I said, standing up. "I know I came uninvited, but I had to see you. I need to explain-"

"What for?" he said. His voice was like ice. "When I said I didn't want anything from you, I meant it."

"You don't mean it...you're hurting, that's why you said all those things. But I know you don't really mean any of it."

"Is this because Sasuke is with Sakura and you know that now you can't have him you decide to get me back?"

"Yes," I said. "I mean, yes I do want you back, but not for that reason."

"Just get out Ino. This is a waste of time for the both of us," Shikamaru said.

"No!" I said adamantly. "Just hear me out, goddammit! You'll have to drag me out of the house before I leave without saying what I came here to say."

"You've always been so stubborn," he said, sitting down on his bed.

I remained standing up. "You've got to understand that, yes, I was a horrible person for ever going along with such a plan. At the time I still saw you as my 'mortal enemy.'"

"Then why pick me?" Shikamaru asked.

"I didn't. But Hinata did. She knew that I needed someone and she picked you because she wanted me to find out for myself how great of a guy you are. And now I know just how incredible you really are. I'm glad Hinata picked you for me," I said.

"How can you be glad when all along you knew I was going to get hurt in the end?" he said. "Do you know how much I sacrificed for you? I got suspended for a week because I fought Sasuke over you. _You_, Ino. I sneaked out of my room and faced the wrath of my mother. I did all this for _you_, and how do you think I felt when I learned that everything I did was for a girl who pretended to like me?"

I knelt down in front of him and placed my head on his lap and began to cry. My body shook with every sob that escaped from me. "Don't you think I know all this?" I said. "I'm such a bad person for making you go through all this..." My voice died down as I continued to cry even more violently.

Shikamaru gently stroked my back until my cries subsided. Then he took me by my shoulders and lifted my head so I was forced to look at him. I was surprised to find tears in his eyes too.

"You could've kept it all a secret from me and I'd be in ignorant bliss," Shikamaru said.

"All the...lies...were hurting...me..," I said with each rough breath.

"Ino, what exactly did you lie about? I need to know," he said.

I stood up and considered that it'd be much easier to come clean with a little bit of distance between us. I told him everything.

"You sabotaged your own best friend? You made me believe that Sakura liked me...then coerced her to that truce...," Shikamaru said, raking a hand through his hair. "And I was so convinced that you were over Sasuke when in fact he was your goal all along."

I sighed.

"Well, since we are coming clean, you should know that I had sex with Temari after I left you at the park," he said. "I was with her the whole night."

It stung my heart. I couldn't even talk; I was choking back sobs. Yet I wanted to punch him, to pound my fists on his chest and scream obscenities at him. And that's exactly what I did.

"You asshole! How could you? I hope you get a fucking disease from fucking her, you fucking bastard!" I yelled, my fists numb from pounding so hard.

"Ino, stop! Stop it!" Shikamaru said, trying to grab hold of my hands at the same time he was trying to cover himself with his towel (which had fallen off).

"No, fuck you! Fuck you!" I said, tears streaming down my face. My throat ached from yelling so much. "I fucking love you! How could you do this to me? Didn't I matter?"

"Dammit Ino, don't pull that on me-"

"Yes I will. I was crying my eyes out while you were with that slut!"

"Don't call her that! Temari's not-"

"Don't even mention that name in front of me. I'm leaving. I'm tired of crying," I said, wiping my tears. "I thought I'd leave here feeling better, but I guess I was wrong. Bye Shikamaru."

"Ino wait! Don't leave like this," he said, holding my arm. I pulled free from him.

"I'm done," I said with one last look at him through the blur of my tears. I opened his bedroom door and ran down the stairs to the front door, slamming it shut behind me. I was so done.

xoxoxoxoxo-end of chapter-xoxoxoxoxox

**A/N: Please review! And we hope that everyone has a great Christmas!**

**Preview of Next Chapter-**

**_I was walking Tracy when I saw _her_. She was out for a run, her headphones peeking out from her t-shirt. It took her a while, but she finally spotted me too. And her whole demeanor changed._**

**_"I think the dog is suppose to be the one on the leash," Temari said._**

**_"And I thought the zoo took better care of their animals, but I guess they let one escape," I retorted._**

**_"You bitch!" she said._**

**_"At least I'm not a zoo creature," I said._**

**_"Ugh! I can't believe of all the people I had to run into, it had to be you," Temari said with disgust._**

**_"Well, you weren't my first choice either," I said. What was she even doing here? "Do you live nearby?"_**

**_"No. I was just visiting someone who lives near here," she said._**

**_"Who?" I asked._**

**_Temari crinkled her nose. "You're nosy. But if you must know, it was Shikamaru," she said. That's when I noticed that she was wearing Shikamaru's gym t-shirt and basketball shorts. Tracy had started sniffing her. "Eww, get your dirty dog off me!" she said._**

**_"Why were you there?" I asked._**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: We hope everyone had a happy holidays! We can't believe so many of you still had interest in this story even though it had been FOREVER since we updated- thank you! The reviews were amazing and made us very happy (:**

_Previously on the last chapter:_

_It stung my heart. I couldn't even talk; I was choking back sobs. Yet I wanted to punch him, to pound my fists on his chest and scream obscenities at him. And that's exactly what I did. _

_"You asshole! How could you? I hope you get a fucking disease from fucking her, you fucking bastard!" I yelled, my fists numb from pounding so hard._

_"Ino, stop! Stop it!" Shikamaru said, trying to grab hold of my hands at the same time he was trying to cover himself with his towel (which had fallen off)._

_"No, fuck you! Fuck you!" I said, tears streaming down my face. My throat ached from yelling so much. "I fucking love you! How could you do this to me? Didn't I matter?"_

_"Dammit Ino, don't pull that on me-"_

_"Yes I will. I was crying my eyes out while you were with that slut!"_

_"Don't call her that! Temari's not-"_

_"Don't even mention that name in front of me. I'm leaving. I'm tired of crying," I said, wiping my tears. "I thought I'd leave here feeling better, but I guess I was wrong. Bye Shikamaru."_

_"Ino wait! Don't leave like this," he said, holding my arm. I pulled free from him. _

_"I'm done," I said with one last look at him through the blur of my tears. I opened his bedroom door and ran down the stairs to the front door, slamming it shut behind me. I was so done. _

**Chapter 10**

Crying and driving at the same time is _not _a good idea. I had to stop a few times just to get myself together. And each time I imagined Shikamaru with _her. _

Once I got back home I didn't even bother being discreet. I opened the front door, my sobs strong as ever, which caught the attention of my parents.

"Ino, what happened?" my mom asked, rushing over from the living room. I wrapped my arms around her, grateful for the familiar comforting touch.

My dad took one look at my distressed state and came to the conclusion that Shikamaru was behind it. "It was that Nara boy, wasn't it? What did he do to you Ino? Tell me and I'll go over to his house right now and settle-"

"No, dad, please!" I said, clutching on to his arm. "Shikamaru didn't do anything bad, well not like that...we broke up."

"That boy! He has some nerve to break up with my daughter like that," my dad said.

"Inoichi, don't get so riled up...I'm sure Shikamaru had his own reasons for making such a hard decision," my mom said. She gave me a knowing look. I cried even harder out of guilt, which my dad mistook for as heartbreak sorrow.

"Ahh, make the poor girl some tea. Can't you see how devastated she is?" he asked.

"Ino, sweetie, go back to bed and try to get some sleep," my mom said, directing me towards the stairs and giving me a kiss.

Sleep was pointless. Everytime I closed my eyes I was attacked by images of Shikamaru with _her_, and the part of my heart that belonged to Shikmaru ached.

There was no way that Shikamaru and I would ever get back together. I had to accept that. No matter how much I loved him, I felt so hurt by his actions. And he was so done with me. But how could I still have deep feelings for someone and resent him at the same time?

I was stuck in this cycle of love and bitterness.

When I woke up the next day I cleaned my room. I immersed myself in this task so I could forget about everything. Then I got a text from Sakura. She wanted us to get a cup of coffee and hangout. I was so relieved to have an excuse to leave my house and get away from my problems.

"Mom, can I-"

"Yes."

"But I haven't even told you what it was yet," I said.

"Yeah, I know. But you've been cooped up in your room for days now," my mom said. "Any excuse to get you to leave the house is fine by me."

"Ugh. You make me sound like such a loner," I said.

"So where are you going?" she asked.

"Starbucks. With Sakura and Hinata," I said, grabbing the car keys from the kitchen counter. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"...kept laughing. I lost count of how many times he accidentally stepped on my toes," Hinata said. She and Sakura were recapping the dance for me, and from their stories it seemed like they had a fun night.

"Now let's get to the nitty gritty...did he kiss you?" I asked.

"Ino! Haven't you ever heard of kiss not tell?" Hinata said.

"Well, did he?" Sakura prodded her.

Hinata stayed silent for a while before saying yes. Sakura and I jumped in our seats.

"How was it?" I asked.

"It was nice," Hinata said.

"That's too vague. Be more specific," I said.

"Do you guys _really _want to listen to me describe Naruto's kiss?" she said.

"Eww, you're right. We don't want to listen to that," Sakura said. We all laughed.

I took the last sip of my pumpkin spice latte and sighed in content. "I think this is the happiest I've been in a long time," I contemplated aloud. Hinata squeezed my hand and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Do you think things will ever get better between the two of you?" she asked.

"I don't know...At this point I'm done being hurt, I'm done crying all the time," I said.

"But you're still not over him," Sakura said. It wasn't a question.

"No, I'm not. I still feel for him," I said, slumping down in my seat. "It sucks."

"Love sucks. But it can be a beautiful, magical thing as well," Sakura said. "Don't forget about that part."

"I know," I replied. "It's hard, though. Ugh, let's change the subject. I don't like being depressed for too long."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I was walking Tracy when I saw _her. _She was out for a run, her headphones peeking out from her t-shirt. It took her a while, but she finally spotted me too. And her whole demeanor changed.

"I think the dog is suppose to be the one on the leash," Temari said.

"And I thought the zoo took better care of their animals, but I guess they let one escape," I retorted.

"You bitch!" she said.

"At least I'm not a zoo creature," I said.

"Ugh! I can't believe of all the people I had to run into, it had to be you," Temari said with disgust.

"Well, you weren't my first choice either," I said. What was she even doing here? "Do you live nearby?"

"No. I was just visiting someone who lives near here," she said.

"Who?" I asked.

Temari crinkled her nose. "You're nosy. But if you must know, it was Shikamaru," she said. That's when I noticed that she was wearing Shikamaru's gym t-shirt and basketball shorts. Tracy had started sniffing her. "Eww, get your dirty dog off me!" she said.

"Why were you there?" I asked.

"What?"

"Why were you with Shikamaru?"

"It's none of your business, litte girl. I don't really know what happened between you two, but Shikamaru was really messed up when he came to see me last week," Temari said. "He hates you."

"Is that what he said?" I asked.

"He didn't need to. I could tell by the way he was kissing me that he didn't want anything to do with you."

I definitely was not going to start crying in front of Temari. I willed my tears to not fall.

"Don't cry, it's pathetic," she said.

SLAP!

Temari placed a hand on her cheek, her eyes wide with shock.

"Yeah, bitch, I just slapped you, don't look so surprised. And stay away from Shikamaru. I _will_ get him back," I said. Temari continued looking at me, speechless. "C'mon Tracy, let's go."

I had no idea what possessed me to say that, but I realized that no matter how angry I was at Shikamaru for sleeping with Temari, I still loved him. And I was going to fight for him until the very end.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next day I made a bold move. I ran all the way to the parking lot after my last class ended and waited for Shikamaru by his car. I fixed my hair several times, adjusted and readjusted my shirt and finally decided to leave the first two buttons unbuttoned. I purposely didn't gloss my lips because I knew he liked my lips natural.

He spotted me right away and walked towards me (well, his car, but I was there too).

"Shik-"

"Do you mind? I need to get in my car," he said briskly.

"Actually, yes, I do mind. I'm trying to talk to you," I said. By this time, we were getting a few stares from people nearby. "Can we talk inside your car so they don't hear us?" I asked.

"Fine...but fix your shirt first," he said. Aha! So he did notice.

"Maybe you should fix it for me if it's bothering you so much," I said.

He sighed and looked away. "Just get in the car Ino." I frowned and walked over to the passenger side as he got into the driver seat. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why'd you have sex with Temari?" I asked.

"Dammit Ino, if that's -"

"I hate her! I hate her so much and the thought of you two being together sickens me," I said.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Shikamaru asked.

"Isn't it obvious? She's with you and I'm not."

"I'm not with her...not like that, I mean. She's just always been there for me," he said.

"Does she make you happy?"

"Why do you care?"

"You're such an idiot! Fine, be with her. But I know she'll never make you as happy as I did." Damn, how did we even end up fighting like this?

"You _lied_ to me," Shikamaru said.

"I'm sorry for that! But I wasn't lying when I said that I loved you. I still love you," I said. Then I kissed him. At first he resisted, then gave in and kissed me back. He sucked on my bottom lip and pulled me closer towards him. My tongue traveled the inside of his mouth as my hands slowly found their way under his shirt.

Shikamaru pulled away and looked at me in disgust.

"Wh-What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked.

"You're confusing me...why do you pretend to love me? I know you told me all that because you wanted to end it between us once you found out that Sasuke was no longer available," he said.

I shook my head. "No, that's not why. I told you all that because I wanted you to know the truth. We were in a good, honest relationship and I just wanted you to know the _truth_. I never wanted to hurt you...why don't you believe me?"

I was blubbering by this point. My eyes felt swollen and the front of my shirt was getting wet with my tears. I was about to wipe my face with my hands when Shikamaru gave me a tissue. I gratefully took it.

Shikamaru started the car. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm taking you home," he responded back.

"You never answered my question," I reminded him with a sad smile. He remained silent.

I looked out the window, trying not to think about how close Shikamaru was to me, yet how distant. I started to cry again and tried to muffle my sobs.

"Dammit! Don't do this to me Ino. I can't drive if you're going to keep on crying," he said, pulling over into a street nearby.

"I'll walk from here," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt. Shikamaru grabbed my arm before I could leave.

"Don't be so dramatic," he said. "Just calm down...I don't like seeing you like this."

I sniffled. "I love you," I whispered, hoping he would believe me and that he would see the truth in my eyes. He didn't look away from me. Instead his hand grazed down the length of my arm and intertwined with my hand.

"I love you," I said again, kissing his neck. I heard him sigh and he ran his other hand through my hair. I quicky settled myself on his lap and lightly nipped the soft skin of his neck; his breathing hitched.

"Ino..."

"Shh...please..."

"Mmmm..."

Somehow Shikamaru lowered his seat so it was reclined all the way. I kicked my leg over so I was straddling him and we began this rhythmic grind. Shiakmaru's hands creeped up my skirt to my thighs and he started rubbing and groping the skin there. Warm heat surrounded my entire body, and at about the same time I could _feel _him. I almost stopped because it startled me. Yet it felt nice to know that I could elicit that kind of response in him.

I continued kissing him, happy to just be with him and see where this would go. However, Shikamaru broke free from our kiss and stared up at me, desire in his eyes. But then he shook his head and looked away.

"I know you want me-"

"Not like this."

"We can go somewhere else."

"..."

"Shikamaru?"

"No. This isn't like you, it isn't like me either. Try to tell me otherwise."

"Y-You're right," I said, getting off of him and settling back down to my seat. He breathed deeply and readjusted his seat so it was back to its prior position. "Are you satisfied?" I asked him.

He gave me a sharp look. "What exactly are you referring to?" he said.

"For someone who claims to not want to do anything with me, you sure are quick to be aroused," I retorted, my cheeks flaming red. Did I just say that?

Shikamaru just stared at me, his ears also flaming in color. Not only was he uncomfortable, but so was I. There was an awkward silence that followed.

I was about to speak and break the silence when Shikamaru crashed his lips onto mine. He pressed me closer, his hands traveling up the sides of my stomach. I relished in the warm touch of his fingers, in his soft lips that caressed my neck and the exposed skin of my chest. Suddenly he stopped.

"Now I'm satisfied," he said.

He left me breathless. Why did he stop when I so wanted him to continue?

"Well...umm...that's good," I said. "I wouldn't want to leave you unsatisfied."

Another awkard silence, one in which Shikamaru smirked amusingly.

"I guess you should take me home now," I said, fixing the state of my clothes and hair.

I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. Maybe I had been mistaken in thinking that Shikamaru would ever want to get back with me. He was a guy after all, the only thing he desired was my body, or any girl's body, as he had proven it by sleeping with Temari. Maybe I had actually saved myself from giving it all to him...even though I knew it was a bogus excuse. I would gladly give all of myself to him because I love him and I know it'd be magical.

The ride home was silent. I kept glancing at Shikamaru, only to find him glancing back at me as well.

"Thanks. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I said, not meaning for it to come out like a question.

"Yeah. Sure," he said. I didn't know if I should take that as encouragement but it did make my heart flutter in hope.

"Okay, "I smiled and quickly left the car before I suffocated him with kisses. Once I was safe in my room I flopped onto my bed and took a moment to replay what had happened in Shikamaru's car. It had been wonderful, but now I was confused.

I turned over on to my stomach and rested my chin on my hand. I loved Shikamaru, that I was certain. But did he still love me?

xoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxoxoxoxox

I woke up to the sound of rain. Oh great. I looked out my window and sure enough it was pouring outside.

Grumbling out of bed, I washed my face in the bathroom and noticed I had a hickey on the crook of my neck, and right below my collarbone...and another one even below that. This was just not my day. I did my best to cover them with concealer and left my hair down.

I went back to my room and put on my uniform, adding a navy blue cardigan with the school's symbol on the top right cornor. I traded in my usual pumps for my black rain boots.

"Mom!" I called out as I walked downstairs toward the kitchen. She wasn't there. I walked to the living room and saw that she was sitting on the couch with her shoulders hunched over and her head in her hands. She was crying.

"Mom? What's wrong?" I asked, coming over to sit next to her.

She looked up at me and wiped her tears. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine sweetie," she said.

"No, something is wrong," I said.

Mom sighed. "You're old enough to know."

"What is it?"

"A few months ago your dad was working on this case... he was defending a man accused of embezzlement."

"Yeah, I remember, but dad won that case," I said.

"Yes, he did, but now he's being sued by the opponent. They're saying that your father used false evidence to clear his client's name," mom said. This day was just turning worse and worse.

"That's not true!" I said. "Dad would never do that. He's a good, honest man."

Mom ran a hand through her hair. She wasn't saying anything. This worried me.

"Mom? It's not true, right?"

"..."

I shook my head. "He would _never _-"

"Oh Ino! He didn't know!" mom cried. "One of his partners presented him with that evidence while they were researching...it's all very complicated right now."

She was scared. And I was scared too. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Your dad needs out support right now," she said, taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "C'mon, I'll drive you to school."

"No, it's fine. I'll walk," I said.

"But it's raining outside."

"You shouldn't be driving in your state, mom. Besides, I don't mind walking," I said. It was a lie, but I really wanted to be by myself and think.

"You sure?" mom asked. I nodded my head.

**Five minutes later...**

I was soaking wet. Fuck my life.

It was crazy windy outside and my umbrella kept flipping out. It almost flew out of my hands. I swear, my umbrella was _possessed. _

I was shivering cold and my uniform was wet and clinging to my body. Today was definitely the worst ever.

Then I heard a car honk. I turned around and for one fleeting second I thought it was Shikamaru. But it was an unknown car, so I kept walking. The car honked again. I stopped.

"What the hell is your problem?" I yelled.

The car pulled up beside me and rolled down the window. At first I thought it was Sasuke but on closer inspection I realized it wasn't. He looked oddly familiar though, and he apparently went to my school since he was wearing the boys' version of the uniform.

"Do you want a ride?" Unknown Boy asked.

"Uhh...do I know you?" I said.

"We've met before. At the mall," he said.

"Ohh," I said, trying to remember. Nope. I had no clue who he was, but if he was offering a ride I was in no position to say no.

"We go to the same school. My name's Sai," he said.

"I'm Ino," I said. I walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. "I'm going to get your seat all wet," I said.

"It's fine," Sai said.

I sat down, dripping everywhere. I placed my hands by the heater and couldn't believe my luck. What are the odds of a random stranger saving me from walking in the rain? The day could only get better from here on out.

"Thanks," I said to strike up conversation. "This is a nice camarro." I didn't know much about cars but I liked the interior. I felt bad getting it all wet.

"I bought it a few weeks ago. I saved up enough money by selling my paintings at art galleries," Sai said.

"You paint? That's amazing," I said. I've never met a painter before. "You must be really good if people buy your work."

There was a blush on Sai's cheeks. I guess he wasn't used to recieving compliments.

"So what sort of things do you paint?" I asked. We were almost by the school now.

"Mostly landscape. But sometimes I paint portraits of people. It's a bit of a challenge trying to capture the expression of their eyes though," he said. I nodded in agreement.

"Sai, what grade are you in?"

"I'm a junior, just like you."

"I only asked because, well, I feel bad that we go to the same school and I've never seen you before," I explained.

"It's okay," he said with a small smile. "I'm the new kid that no one really knows about. I've always been kinda socially awkward."

I frowned. It wasn't fair that this kid was so unknown, so _friendless. _It also wasn't fair that my dad was being sued. Ugh, life wasn't fair.

"We're here," Sai said, easily finding a parking space.

"Thanks again for the ride," I said, combing my hands through my hair. The heater had somewhat dried me off.

"It was my pleasure," he siad. "Hopefully if I walk fast enough I won't get completely soaked." It was still raining like crazy outside.

"Don't be silly. We can share my umbrella. It's possessed, but it's the least I can do since you've been so kind to me," I said.

We gathered our messenger bags and huddled close together under my umbrella. We walked as fast as we could, passing other students. I thought I saw a pineapple-shaped head in my peripheral vision but when I turned my head it was gone.

xoxoxo-end of chapter-xoxoxo

**A/N: And the plot thickens! Muahahaha! Please review!**


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